The ExGirlfriends
by DearLadyDisdain
Summary: Feeling uninspired, Tenten leaves her old band and starts a new one. But as the band grows more successful, her personal life gets increasingly more difficult - no thanks to a certain long-haired childhood friend. AU.
1. Leaving and Making The Band

Disclaimer: This is totally for my own personal entertainment, and most (ok, all) of the songs quoted/sung here are written/sung by far more amazing than given justice in this fic. Also, I will change some words around to fit whom they're sung by. I will provide credits for songs at the end of the chapter. Also, I don't own Naruto. If I did, the Konoha twelve would be rockstars.

* * *

"AGH!" screamed Tenten. "I've got the tune, but nothing seems to fit! No, that doesn't work..." she said, writing than scribbiling. She had been trying to perfect lyrics to a tune that she had in her head for almost three days. She scribbled angrily again, when her band mates came into her room. 

"Real smooth Tenten, missing the interview with _Leaf Digest_." Said an unnaturally angry Neji.

"Shit! That was this morning? Sorry you guys, you know how it is, I've got an idea. I have the tune, but the lyrics are just not fitting right and-"

Lee blurted out, "We have something we need to say."

Tenten looked at her band mates curiously. Neji was glaring at Lee and Lee was looking at his feet. She could immediately tell that something was up.

"Tenten, you're out." Neji finally blurted out.

It took her a moment to take things in. She was out of the band? Why? They had been friends since music academy days. She had always sung, Neji played guitar, and Lee drummed. She also played guitar as good as Neji, if not better, but Neji's uncle had made sure that his nephew got a starring role in a band, so she wasn't allowed to play.

Lee was shifting his weight and looked at his feet while Neji remained as stoic as ever.

"I'm...out?" she repeated, confused.

"You're out. Look, Tenten, you're a good singer, but you just aren't reliable. You miss interviews, you don't show up for rehearsals, and we've cancelled shows because you were nowhere to be found. It's nothing personal; it's just what's right for the band." Neji finished.

She knew she must have looked crazy, but all Tenten could do was cry. She then tried to mask the crying by laughing.

"How is it good for the band? You'll be down to only two members, and newsflash: Neither of you can sing. And you know what? I'm gonna start my own band and we're gonna be so famous that you're both gonna be a funny little footnote on my epic ass."

Neji was as stoic as ever when he said, "We've got replacements coming in."

The word 'Replacements' hung in her head. She was being replaced? Tenten stormed out of the abandoned warehouse where they had practiced, but not before making an obscene hand gesture at Neji. _Who needed other band members anyway? I could do it all, _she thought.

She stopped. _Who the hell am I kidding? I can't do it alone. Where am I gonna find another band?_

Tenten walked to The Keg. Its official name, nobody really cared. The only reason it was still in business is because they served alcohol to anyone, including teenagers. She walked to the door, said the password, and sat herself down at the bar. "Whiskey please." The bartender slid down a shot glass filled with the dark liquid. She drained it in one gulp.

"Tenten? It's Temari." Tenten turned around to find Temari with a shot glass and a bottle of whiskey.

"Hard times or harder liquor?" Asked Tenten, smirking.

"Both. My brothers kicked me out of our band and they're joining up with some losers from your academy." There were three main Academies of Music, and three main stages, but you could continue for advanced music study. Tenten and Temari were both in the final stage of their academy days. Tenten went to Konoha, and Temari went to Suna. They were still close friends after a Battle of the Bands back in the second stage.

"Neji kicked me out too. I've missed the last few days of rehearsal and other crap trying to figure out some lyrics to this tune I've got running in my head, but they just aren't coming to me."

"Bummer." Temari said, kicking back another whiskey. Tenten helped herself to the bottle and took a shot as well. There was a long silence, each girl contemplating her situation.

Tenten was struck with an idea. She didn't know if it was the alcohol, but she felt compelled to say, "Let's start a band."

Temari looked at her as if she was insane. "I'm serious!" Said Tenten. "You've got some serious rhythm on the drums, and I sing and play guitar! We've got all we need!"

Temari arched an eyebrow. "What about a bassist? All the successful bands have a bassist."

Tenten waved it off. "We'll figure that out later. Look, music is my life, and I have no idea what I would do without a band. At least humor me, and sign up for the next underground battle."

Temari considered it for a while. "I'm gonna regret doing it, but why the hell not? Sure. Also, because you're gonna owe me for this; I want you to perform with your hair down."

Tenten was silent. Let her hair down? Nobody had ever seen her with her hair down, and she wasn't about to start now. "Seriously?"

Temari smiled wickedly. "Seriously. Hair is down for the whole set." Tenten contemplated it for a minute. _Hair down vs. having a band. I've got to go with the band._

"Let's do it then." Said Tenten. They got up, paid for their drinks, and went to Ichiraku's, the local club where the underground rock scene lived and breathed, to sign up for the next battle.

* * *

"Shit, what the hell was I thinking?" Said Tenten backstage a week later at Ichiraku's. They were the last band of the night, and they were up next. It turns out that Tenten's old band and Temari's brothers had joined to form the band 'Stranger Danger'. Temari and Tenten had thought long and hard about band names. Tenten wanted 'The Katanas' (Temari was still a little freaked out at Tenten's facination with sharp objects), Temari wanted 'The Fans' (Tenten did not want to be represented by something girly). They finally landed on 'The Ex-Girlfriends'. 

"Shit, we're up." Said Tenten. "Relax, just play like you have been in rehearsals, and we'll smoke 'em." Laughed Temari.

Tenten was even more nervous with her hair and her appearance. Her hair was down, and she had on a worn t-shirt depicting one unicorn mounting another in front of a rainbow (Temari laughed and declared it the most awesome shirt she had ever seen in her life). She also had faded skinny jeans and went barefoot. Temari had let her hair out too (it stuck up like a blonde afro) and was wearing a cut up t-shirt and paint splattered pants. She was also barefoot, as they both had decided that would be their signature.

Tenten gulped. The announcer Iruka called out "And for the last band, we have two babes of rock working together as one. Rockers and Rockettes, The Ex-Girlfriends!"

There was polite applause as they both walked on stage. Temari sat behind the drums and twirled her sticks, and Tenten picked up her guitar. To her dismay, she was able to see Neji and Lee in the third row. Tenten still sucked it up and smirked. _Time to show them what they let go of,_ she thought.

She spoke into the mike. "Hi. What's up. We're the Ex-Girlfriends, and this song is called Sharp Dressed Man." She began with the opening riff and then belted out the lyrics.

**Clean shirt, new shoes,  
and I don't know where I am gonna do.  
Silk suit, black tie,  
I don't need a reason why.  
They go runnin' just as fast as they can  
cause every girl crazy about a sharp dressed man. **

Gold watch, diamond ring,  
He ain't missin' not a single thing.  
Cuff links, stickpin  
when he steps out he's gonna do you in.  
They go a runnin' just as fast as they can  
cause every girl crazy about a sharp dressed man.

Topcoat, Top hat,  
And he don't worry cause his wallet's fat.  
Black shades, white gloves,  
lookin' sharp, lookin' for love.  
They go runnin' just as fast as they can  
cause every girl crazy about a sharp dressed man. 

There was a good amount of applause when they were done. Tenten turned around and gave Temari the thumbs up. Temari returned the gesture and signaled to go straight into the next song. _If that's the way she wants it, _thought Tenten before bursting into the next song.

**On the floors of Tokyo  
A-down in London town's a go-go  
A-with the record selection,  
And the mirror's reflection,  
I'm a dancin' with myself **

A-when there's no one else in sight,  
A-in crowded lonely night  
Well, I wait so long for my love vibration  
And I'm dancing with myself

Oh oh. Dancing with a-myself,  
Oh, oh, dancing with myself  
Well, there's nothing to lose  
And there's nothing to prove, well,  
Dancing a-with myself, oh, oh, oh, oh.

If I looked all over the world  
And there's ev'ry type of guy  
But your empty eyes seem to pass me by  
And leave me dancin' with myself.

So let's sink another drink  
'Cause it'll give me time to think  
If I had the chance I'd ask the world to dance  
And I'll be dancin' with myself

Oh oh. Dancing a-with myself,  
Oh, oh, dancing with myself  
Well, there's nothing to lose  
And there's nothing to prove, well,  
Dancing a-with myself,  
Oh, oh, oh.  
Oh, oh oh oh, oh oh, oh oh oh, oh oh...

Well if I looked all over the world  
and there's ev'ry type of guy.  
But your empty eyes seem to pass me by  
And leave me dancin' with myself.

So let's sink another drink  
'Cause it'll give me time to think  
If I had the chance I'd ask the world to dance  
And I'll be dancin' with myself

Oh oh. Dancing a-with myself,  
Oh, oh, dancing with myself  
If I had the chance I'd ask the world to dance  
If I had the chance I'd ask the world to dance  
If I had the chance I'd ask the world to dance  
Oh, oh, oh, oh oh.  
Oh, oh, oh dancin' with myself.  
Oh, oh, dancin' with myself, oh, oh, oh. 

The applause was louder than before. Tenten looked at Neji, and saw that he was lightly applauding, but looked a little puzzled at the same time. _That's right_, she thought, _these are all about you, dumb ass._ Tenten talked into the mike again. "That was Dancing With Myself, and this next one is dedicated to a special person in my life-" Temari fake coughed very loudly. "It's called Your Time Is Gonna Come. Enjoy." She switched her amplifier setting to acoustic and began to play while Temari came in with a driving beat.

**Lyin', cheatin', hurtin, that's all you seem to do  
Messin' around, every girl in town  
Puttin' me down for thinkin' of something new  
Always the same, playin' your game  
Drive me insane, trouble's gonna come to you  
One of these days, and it won't be long  
You'll look for me, but, baby, I'll be gone **

This is all I gotta say to ya, boy  
Your time is gonna come, your time is gonna come  
Your time is gonna come, your time is gonna come

Made up my mind, break you this time  
Won't be so fine, it's my turn to cry  
Do what you want, I won't take the brunt  
It's fadin' away, can't feel you anymore  
Don't care what you say 'cause I'm goin' away to stay  
Gonna make you pay for that great big hole in my heart  
People talkin' all around  
Watch out, boy, no longer is the joke gonna be on my heart

You been bad to me, boy, but it's comin' back home to you  
Your time is gonna come, your time is gonna come  
Your time is gonna come, your time is gonna come  
Your time is gonna come, 'bye, 'bye-'bye, baby  
Your time is gonna come, right now, right now  
Your time is gonna come, believe me,  
Your time is gonna come, oh, oh, oh, oh-oh  
Your time is gonna come, goodbye, baby. 

Temari began to play the bongos as Tenten went into a guitar riff. They were only supposed to have three songs and this was technically a fourth, but they called it a riff to make it legal. It was an acoustic solo that Temari thought was just beautiful. The whole audience became silent to listen to Tenten play with an almost magic quality. This was what Tenten really loved about the guitar. It was her drug, her everything. She loved playing it so much that she almost considered leaving her old band when Neji's uncle made him the lead guitarist.

When Tenten finished, there was an ear-splitting applause. Both girls stepped forward and bowed before running off stage.

"That was awesome!" Squealed Temari. "I don't know why Neji didn't play bass to let you play lead guitar. I mean, everyone knows that the Huyga's are trained in, like, ten different instruments."

Tenten shrugged. "Yeah, well, bass players aren't exactly superstars." Someone tapped Tenten on the shoulder. She whipped around, only to find that it was Neji.

Neji looked completely amazed when he saw Tenten. She was a mix of angry that he came to see her after kicking her out and nervousness at him seeing her with her hair down. She was then surprised when Neji said, "You were amazing out there. What's your name? I don't think I've seen you around before."

Temari spoke up first. "Her name is Yume. I'm Yuri. Pleased to meet you mister..."

"Huyga, Neji Huyga." He said, shaking Temari's hand. Tenten was confused. Since when was her name Yume?

"Nice to meet you Yuri. See you later Yume. Nice shirt by the way." He said walking away.

"Charmed!" Temari called after him. Tenten turned on her.

"Why didn't you just tell him that my name was Tenten?"

Temari laughed. "Everyone knows you like him-don't protest, it's true," she said, as Tenten had gone red and opened her mouth to object. "Neji and Tenten are awkward with each other because Neji just kicked her out. But he can still fall in love with Yume."

Tenten looked at her as if she was crazy. "When did you go crazy and refer to me in third person?"

Temari slapped her forehead. "Don't you get it? You can get a fresh start with each other!"

"The only difference between me and this "Yume" person you invented is that she wears her hair down and I don't. He's going to know it's me after a while," said Tenten exasperatedly.

"Not if we give you some colored contacts and a whole different look for Yume, we could pull it off." Temari said, examining her. "Come on now, let's go."

Tenten was silent on the way back to her apartment driving in Temari's car. She was contemplating what Temari had gotten her into. Before she knew it, she was outside her apartment building.

"Hey, Tenten." Tenten turned around to look at Temari in the car. "What?"

"At least he said you were good." And with that, Temari drove off.

* * *

Alright, time for the song credits! 

Sharp Dressed Man-ZZ Top  
Dancing With Myself-Billy Idol  
Your Time Is Gonna Come-Led Zeppelin  
Black Mountain Side (Guitar Riff)-Led Zeppelin

The shirt Tenten was wearing for the concert is real too. Check it out at Threadless and search "Afternoon Delight." It will make you explode it is that funny. Leave a review or critique please. 


	2. Fame and A Bass Player

Hello everybody! Thanks for the reviews and the alerts. I looked at my stats page and saw that this story was the only one that I had reviews for, but then I remembered that I am writing these stories so that I don't go insane form having an idea stuck in my head. It just makes me giggle a little to see that other people think that my idea was cool enough to add to their alert page or to review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Aerosmith songs, Tom Petty songs, Heart songs. I also do not own Naruto. If I did, I would be good at drawing. (It also makes me happy that the first result for Naruto in spell check is narrator)

* * *

Tenten woke up groggily to the sound of the phone ringing on the table next to her. Her alarm clock read 6:30. She groped for the receiver and answered, "Who the hell are you?"

"Did you even check your caller ID?" Came the excited voice of Temari through the phone. "Who cares, turn your TV to channel ten RIGHT NOW!" and then she hung up.

Tenten slammed the phone down and turned to search for the remote blindly. She found it and flipped to channel ten just as she saw the popular music correspondent Anko Mitarashi at Icihiraku's as roadies were setting up amplifiers behind her.

"-but the real talent last night belonged to a two-woman band calling themselves "The Ex-Girlfriends" who took the audience by storm."

Tenten saw a clip of herself belting out the lyrics to 'Dancing With Myself' while playing guitar as the camera moved to Temari beating the crap out of the drum set behind her.

"The really interesting thing about this band is not only do they not have a bass player, but the guitarist is left handed. The owner of the club told us, "I haven't seen a left-handed guitar player this good since Tsunade came through here thirty years ago with 'The Sanin.' That drummer has huge potential as well. I've never seen a set so worn out before after just three songs. I'll bet that girl goes through more drum skins in a month than most drummers do in their life." Well, he seemed enthusiastic about the girls and we look forward to seeing them again soon on the stage. Anko Mitarashi reporting live."

Tenten immediately called Temari back. "Holy crap, this is amazing!" Tenten squealed into the microphone. "I know! Ichiraku himself said you were just as amazing as Tsunade, and she's a rock legend!" Temari screamed.

"Are you kidding? He also said you were amazing, but you were pretty tough on his skins."

"It's not my fault; I've always played like that. Oh, God I love drumming. It's like sex..."

Tenten backed away from the phone. "Whoa, too much information Temari."

"What? It is like sex!"

"Temari, I really don't want to hear you compare drumming to sex."

"Whatever. Still, we've got to play there again. And we'll actually get paid for it!"

"Fine. You call them and schedule a night while I get ready for school," Tenten said, hanging up and finding a decent pair of pants to wear. Her apartment wasn't cramped, but it was cozy. There were four rooms: a living room that functioned as a dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom that doubled as a laundry room, and a bedroom. She had got this apartment when she turned sixteen and graduated from her incredibly tiny apartment that the city orphanage provided at no charge.

She put bread in the toaster, threw on a faded T-shirt and baggy khaki pants that she bought in the guys department (the pockets were big enough so that she could stuff food in them to sneak into class). She then put her hair up in the classic panda-style buns that she was almost expected to wear while her bangs went past her eyebrows and tickled her eyelashes. Just as she got done, her toast popped up. She stuffed her cell phone in her pocket, grabbed her backpack, buttered her toast, and headed out the door. Tenten checked her watch before getting into her car. _Record time,_ she though happily before driving to school.

The Konoha Academy of Fine Arts was impressive by school standards. Still, it was much better than Oto Academy, which was entirely grey on the outside and in. Konoha was two stories tall and sat on a hill in the middle of the city. Traffic in the morning was crazy, especially with the principal Jiraya always taking up two parking spaces at the very least. The students at Konoha were thrilled when the former principal retired to make way for Jiraya, who ranked with Tsunade and Orochimaru in the Rock Legends category.

Tenten parked her car and rushed to her first period class. As she was walking through the halls, she heard bits and pieces of people's conversations, but most of them seemed to be about The Ex-Girlfriends at Ichiraku's the past night. Tenten silently thanked Temari for making fake names for them; otherwise, Tenten felt that she would be bombarded with questions and comments that she just didn't want to deal with. There may be three main groups of interest at Konoha, but the underground rock scene was the medium on which everyone cooperated and understood each other.

At Konoha Academy, you could pick a "Major" in music, drama, or art. The only instrument she could play was the guitar and choir wasn't really her thing. She was never a good actress, but she was a damn good artist, so she enrolled in all drawing classes. All students of every major had one period that they could pick for themselves. She chose to be a teacher's assistant for Kurenai, partially because Kurenai didn't care if she ate or played guitar in her class that was a year lower than Tenten's. In fact, Kurenai actually let Tenten keep a spare acoustic in her room.

After first period, she bolted into Kurenai's class and immediately picked up the guitar.

"Well, that was fast. No food today either?" Kurenai said, leaving her curtain draped office.

"I finished it all in the car on the way here," Tenten said grinning. She turned back to the guitar and tried to figure out the lyrics that could fit with the rhythm that she had running though her mind. Then she thought of Neji kicking her out of the band, and got a massive brain wave. She pulled out a piece of paper, wrote down all the lyrics, and then sang them while strumming along.

**So, this ain't the end - I saw you again today  
I had to turn my heart away  
smile like the sun - kisses for ev--eryone  
And tails - it never fails! **

You lying so low in the weeds  
I bet you gonna ambush me  
You'd have me down, down, down, down on my knees  
Now, wouldn't you, Barracuda? Oh-oh-ohh

Back over time we were all trying for free  
You met the porpoise and me, uh huh  
No right no wrong, selling a song -  
A name whisper game.

And if the real thing don't do the trick  
You better make up something quick  
You're gonna burn, burn, burn, burn, burn it to the wick  
Ooh, Barracuda! Oh-oh-ohh…yeah

"Sell me, sell you," the porpoise said  
Dive down deep down save my head  
You...I think that you got the blues, too.

All that night and all the next, swam without looking back  
Made it to the western pools - silly, silly fools!

The real thing don't do the trick, no  
You better make up something quick  
You're gonna burn, burn, burn, burn, burn it to the wick  
Ohhh, Barra…barracuda! Yeah

Ooohhhhhh-ah! 

When she was done, there was a huge amount of applause and Tenten looked up to discover that the whole class had come in and was applauding her. She smiled and took a mock bow when Hinata, Neji's cousin, came up to her.

"That was so cool Tenten! What do you call the song?"

"Barracuda," said Tenten with a smile.

"You sound exactly like this band that played at this place that Neji dragged me to."

Tenten turned a light shade of pink as she told Hinata that Neji kicked her out of their band. Hinata's eyes widened.

"That's awful! I've got to tell Neji how insensitive he was!"

"NO. I mean, not yet. See, do you remember a band from last night called "The Ex-Girlfriends" by any chance?"

Hinata nodded. "Sure, they were the best."

"Well..." Tenten leaned in close and whispered, "I'm the lead singer for the band and Neji thinks my name is Yume."

Hinata looked positively puzzled. "Why are you going by a fake name? Tenten is a perfectly fine name."

"This morning, everyone was going crazy about the band. I think everyone from school may have been there. If I had used my real name, I would be stalked by the music nerds as we speak."

Hinata was quiet for a moment before saying, "I know you and your friend already have a band going, but would it be possible for me to join?"

Tenten was a little taken aback. She didn't even know that Hinata even played an instrument. "What do you play?"

"Well, my father wanted me to be a singer, but that didn't work out, so he made me get really good at about a dozen instruments before I picked the bass as my favorite. But I also play keyboard, flute, violin, saxophone, ect. Pretty much anything that my father thought I could play."

Tenten was confused now. "Why hasn't any other band picked you up already?"

Hinata shrugged. "I was with a band in the second stage of the academy, but it was for fun and we weren't very good. I've wanted to get back into it, but I haven't been able to find a band of people that I like."

Tenten whipped out her cell phone. "Just a minute." Tenten text messaged Temari: 'I think I found a bass player. Can you make it over here after school?'

Within seconds, her phone vibrated and Temari had replied: 'Yeah. Meet in a music room with a drum set.'

Tenten snapped her phone shut and asked Hinata, "Could you stay after school to meet the other girl and play with us?"

Hinata though for a minute. "My father doesn't need me home today, so yes I could stay after. Where do you want me to meet you?"

"Music room 145. There should be a bass there."

"Cool," Hinata said, returning to her drawing. "See you then!"

---_**Lunchtime**_

Tenten got her usual tray of indescribable food items from the lunch lady and sat at her normal table with other drawing and painting students. Shikamaru, Shino, Hinata, along with Chouji, Kiba, and Naruto who majored in drama, hailed her as she sat down. "Hey Tenten," said Naruto. "Were you at Ichiraku's last night? There was this band with only two girls, but they kicked ass! They were so awesome!"

Tenten rolled her eyes in aggravation. "You guys too? Everyone is talking about them, what's so great about them?" Hinata gave Tenten an odd look but Tenten just winked and returned to the conversation.

Naruto and Kiba's mouths dropped. "What? How could you not like them?" exclaimed Kiba.

"Not to mention they're both really hot," said Naruto.

Tenten almost spit out the milk that she had been drinking and Hinata's eyes bulged. "What?" choked Tenten.

Naruto continued rambling about The Ex-Girlfriends while Kiba agreed and added his own commentary here and there. Shikamaru finally said, "Will you both shut up already? Your pointless chatter is really getting on my nerves."

Naruto and Kiba gasped when Shino piped up. "Just cool it already, you're both annoying me too."

Kiba and Naruto quieted down, but continued their excitement in whispered tones. Tenten noticed that Chouji had been silent the entire time. "Chouji, what's up?"

He looked up from his lunch. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Not much."

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, Ino called you fat in Shakespeare study this morning." When Chouji looked surprised and nodded, Tenten said, "Honestly, you're getting predictable. Don't let her get to you, she's almost anorexic herself. Don't let her stupid quips make you feel bad. Remember, who got the lead male role in _Coriolanus_?"

"Me," muttered Chouji.

"And who got the part of Roman lady #3?"

"Ino..."

"Exactly!" exclaimed Tenten. "You're an amazing actor and you have some pretty awesome friends. Don't get yourself down, and ignore her in rehearsals today."

Chouji smiled and said, "Thanks Tenten. That really helped a lot."

The rest of lunch was spent bashing Ino and her acting abilities. When the bell rang, Tenten headed off to Kakashi's Advanced Drawing class with Shikamaru. Shikamaru was a year behind her, but his minimalist drawings were considered genius, so he was in almost all of Tenten's classes. Kakashi was always late, and by the third day of class, the students instinctively knew to organize themselves and start drawing. Tenten and Shikamaru were next to each other in a deep discussion about which kind of graphite pencils were the best for the type of paper they were supposed to be using when Tenten's phone began to vibrate like crazy. Tenten picked it up, rejected the call, and set it back in her pocket. It rang again, and Tenten apologized sincerely to Shikamaru before answering it. The caller ID said, "Temari."

"Why the hell are you calling me in class Temari?"

"I just got us booked at Ichiraku's for Friday night. We need to have eight songs for a set, and we can take a break."

"Eight?" Tenten realized that Shikamaru was listening and lowered her voice. "The only ones that I know that I'm allowed to play are the one's I did last night."

Tenten could hear Temari sigh. "We have a week and hopefully a bass player if the girl that you've got is good. Oh, by the way, have people been talking about The Ex-Girlfriends at your school? Because they're a hot topic here."

"YES! Thank you so much about the Yume thing. We would have both been ripped to shreds by this time if you had used the other names," said Tenten, keeping an eye on Shikamaru.

"Ah. You're around friends. I'll see you after school. Which music room are we in?"

"145," muttered Tenten. Shikamaru was definitely listening now.

"Gotcha. Love ya, bye!" And with that, Temari hung up. Conveniently timed too, because Kakashi had just walked in. Tenten stowed her phone in her pocket and returned to her drawing. "So," Shikamaru began. "What was that about?"

"Guitar game that my friend Temari wanted me to play. It's actually very weird." And with that, Tenten continued her drawing of what Kakashi's assignment was to them (Expressions). Shikamaru never said another word to her until the end of the day when she ran into him just outside the school. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Waiting for-there she is!" Temari had just came from the parking lot, sunglasses still on and swinging her oversized hand bag with her car keys in one hand. "Traffic is a nightmare in this part of town. Who's this?" she asked, pointing at Shikamaru.

"Oh, Shikamaru, this is Temari. Temari, this is Shikamaru," said Tenten, introducing them to each other. "Charmed," said Temari, shaking hands with him. "Are you ready Tenten?"

"Yeah, bye Shikamaru!" Tenten waved as she and Temari walked into the school. On the way in, Temari earned several catcalls and whistles from nearby boys whom she promptly glared at. "This is exactly why I didn't like Konoha..." she mumbled.

Tenten just rolled her eyes and stopped outside of Room 145 in the music department. She opened the door to find Hinata inside tuning her bass. "Hi Hinata. This is Temari, she plays killer drums." Hinata said a cheery "Hello" and Temari nodded. Temari walked over to the drum set in the corner of the room, tapped some of the skins with her fingers, and said, "These skins need tightening." Tenten plugged her guitar into an amp while Hinata kept tuning hers. When Tenten was done with her guitar she said, "Ok, what do you want to play?"

Temari tapped her sticks together for a while before saying, "How about 'Oh, Darling?'"

"Great, Hinata, you know this one right?" asked Tenten. Hinata nodded. They began to play and Tenten sang:

**Oh! Darling, please believe me  
I'll never do you no harm  
Believe me when I tell you  
I'll never do you no harm **

Oh! Darling, if you leave me  
I'll never make it alone  
Believe me when I beg you  
Don't ever leave me alone

When you told me you didn't need me anymore  
Well you know I nearly broke down and cried  
When you told me you didn't need me anymore  
Well you know I nearly broke down and died

Oh! Darling, if you leave me  
I'll never make it alone  
Believe me when I tell you  
I'll never do you no harm

When you told me you didn't need me anymore  
Well you know I nearly broke down and cried  
When you told me you didn't need me anymore  
Well you know I nearly broke down and died

Oh! Darling, please believe me  
I'll never let you down  
Believe me when I tell you  
I'll never do you no harm 

The whole time they played together, Tenten really like the way Hinata played. It was mellow and subtle, but it commanded the attention of anyone listening to it. Tenten looked at Temari and Temari held up one finger. "How about one more song?" asked Tenten. Hinata nodded and said, "What were you thinking of?"

Tenten thought a moment. "Do you guys know the song 'Talk Dirty to Me'?"

Hinata and Temari both nodded. They had both worked out a tempo and signaled to Tenten that they were ready.

**You know I never  
I never seen you look so good  
You never act the way you should  
But I like it  
And I know you like it too  
The way that I want you  
I gotta have you  
Oh yes, I do **

You know I never  
I never ever stay out late  
You know that I can hardly wait  
Just to see you  
And I know you cannot wait  
Wait to see me too  
I gotta touch you  
Cause baby we'll be

At the drive-in  
In the old man's Ford  
behind the bushes  
until I'm screamin' for more  
Down the basement  
lock the cellar door  
And baby  
Talk dirty to me

You know I call you  
I call you on the telephone  
I'm only hoping that you're home  
So I can hear you  
When you say those words to me  
And whisper so softly  
I gotta hear you  
Cause baby we'll be

At the drive-in  
In the old man's Ford  
behind the bushes  
until I'm screamin' for more  
Down the basement  
lock the cellar door  
And baby  
(Whisper) Talk dirty to me

When they were done, Tenten looked at Temari and nodded towards Hinata. She saw Temari mouth the words "Hell yeah," and give the thumbs up. "Hinata, you're in," said Tenten smiling.

"REALLY?" Hinata looked ecstatic at the news.

"Yeah," said Temari, reaching for her bag, pulling out a black t-shirt, and throwing it to Hinata. Tenten looked closer at the shirt and saw that it bore the Ichiraku logo. "Now, we have a gig on Friday at 8 PM. You might want to do something to make you look like you aren't you, because we're using fake names. Tenten's is Yume, mine is Yuri, and you can pick yours."

Hinata thought about it for a minute before saying, "I don't know. What do you guys think fits?"

They were silent for a moment before Temari piped out with, "How about Kaminari? It fits the way you play."

Tenten clapped her hands together happily. "It's settled then; Hinata is Kaminari on stage."

Hinata pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and looked at the screen. "Crap. Sorry guys, Neji is waiting for me out front. Can one of you call me to tell me when and where we rehearse?" Temari and Tenten nodded. "Of course," they said.

When the door closed behind Hinata, Tenten turned to Temari. "She is perfect. It's funny, I've known her for two years, and she's never mentioned playing an instrument."

Temari rolled her eyes and said, "Who cares, she's going to give us an advantage."

"In what?" asked Tenten.

"The Ultimate Battle of the Bands, duh! They take the best new bands and they usually get a record deal. That was how the Sanin got discovered, remember?"

"Let's concentrate on getting eight songs to play on Friday. Got any ideas?"

Temari pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket. "As a matter of fact, I've got a few..."

* * *

And I leave you all there. These chapters are really long with the song lyrics. Can you guys tell me whether you want all the lyrics in the next chapter. If not, I'll just put up the song titles and the curious readers can check out the actual lyrics. Thanks for the wonderful reviews and alerts. I'll update as soon as I can, but finals are next week, so that might not be for a while. I've got a speech & debate tournament tomorrow, so wish me luck! And please leave a review. :) 


	3. The Guitar Fight

I need to address a few things from the last chapter. First, Kaminari means thunder in Japanese. I figured it was appropriate for a bass player. Also, "Oh, Darling" is by the Beatles, "Talk Dirty to Me" is by Poison, and "Barracuda" is by Heart. I got into quarterfinals for Public Debate! Anyway, this chapter will be extra long due to the lyrics to SEVEN songs (I put the lyrics to Barracuda in the last chapter) that I will put in here because I think that TheSquare put it best, if I put a song in for a reason, I should include the lyrics as well. I also didn't make Hinata shy in this fic for a reason; it takes guts to be in a band.

Tenten: Meliesan does not own Naruto. If she did, I would be the main character. She also does not own any of the songs mentioned in the story below.

* * *

"I think we should all wear different stuff," said Temari after rehearsal the Thursday before they were set to play at Ichiraku's.

"Hinata and I will be dancing around, so how about we all go uniformed? We cut up the t-shirts that Ichiraku's gave us and we go and get the same skirt?" Said Tenten.

Hinata spoke. "I'll pay for the skirts."

Tenten and Temari smiled. "You would do that?"

Hinata looked uncomfortable. It was well known that the Hyuga family was incredibly rich, but Hinata never liked to brag about it. "Sure. It's no trouble at all."

Tenten pulled her car keys out of her pocket. "I'll drive, and then we go back to my place and cut up the shirts."

There were no protests as Hinata packed up her guitar and Temari guiltily looked at the school drum skins that she had pulverized. For rehearsals all week, they had rotated schools to minimize drum damage and make it easier on Temari so that she didn't have to drive from Suna to Konoha everyday after school. They walked out the doors of Konoha Academy and got into Tenten's car. Turning on the radio, they went to the nearest clothing store they could find.

"Oh, I like this one!" exclaimed Temari the second that they got in the store. She and Hinata ran off to look at the sizes for a green pleated skirt that clashed with their black Ichiraku's shirts. Tenten wandered over to the hosiery section and the knee-highs caught her attention. "Hey, guys!" she called out. Temari and Hinata ran over to where she was. "What did you find?" asked Hinata.

"How about we get a pair of knee-highs each and we wear one above the knee and one below? It will look so cool-"

Before Tenten could finish, Temari grabbed three pairs of black knee-highs and said, "Now what do we do for the skirt?"

"What about this?" Hinata had grabbed a white skirt that was tight at the top, but had ruffles at the bottom. "Perfect!" Temari and Tenten said in unison.

The cashier rang them up (Hinata had gladly paid for it all) and the girls were back in Tenten's car and back at Konoha where Temari picked up her car. Temari and Tenten drove their cars to Tenten's apartment. Upon entering, Temari flung herself on Tenten's couch while Hinata sat on one of Tenten's floor pillows. They weren't sure how to move otherwise, as the whole apartment was covered in drawings. "Hey Tenten," called Temari. "Why don't you just wallpaper your whole apartment with these to make room for other people?"

Tenten came back into the room, expertly navigating the floor as not to step on any drawings and wielding a large pair of scissors. "Because I keep drawing, so it would just get cluttered again. Now here's what I want to do with the shirts..."

Tenten was so excited about the show that she barely noticed that all the student population could do was talk about the fact that The Ex-Girlfriends were playing at Ichiraku's that night. She breezed through her classes while enjoying the conversations about The Ex-Girlfriends taking place around her. Hinata looked incredibly nervous at lunch, and Temari was excitedly texting Tenten all day. When the bell rang, Tenten left with Hinata (Hinata told her dad that she and Tenten were having a sleepover) for Tenten's apartment to get ready for the show. Temari would meet them at Ichiraku's.

Hinata helped Tenten curl her long hair and put makeup on (Tenten never wore it to school), and Tenten helped Hinata put in hair extensions and tan makeup to make her look unrecognizable. Tenten also put in blue contacts while Hinata put in green ones. They changed into the newly cut up t-shirts (they had cut diamond patterns up the side and tied the corners of the diamond to make them fit snugly), skirts, and pulled their stockings up; the left one below the knee, and the right one above. They put shoes on for walking, but they would perform with out shoes. On the way there, they went over the set list and key changes.

When they got there, Temari was waiting for them wearing the same thing and her hair in a blonde afro. "Tenten, you're not gonna like the opening band."

"Come on Temari, do they suck?"

"No, well, kind of, but it's Stranger Danger."

Tenten was silent for a moment. _Neji is opening for me? I think it's subconscious payback time._

"Why would that be a problem? I'm fine with it."

Temari eyed her suspiciously, but they continued backstage until they were in the wings. Tenten was observing the way that Stranger Danger was playing. Lee was playing drums and Neji was still playing lead guitar, but Temari's brothers Gaara and Kankuro had taken over the rolls of bass player and lead singer respectively. _Kankuro's a little hoarse, and Gaara is practically invisible,_ she thought. _Lee is still banging away on the drums and Neji is still the ice guitar player. Same old, same old_. _Overall, they're OK at the best._

They finished the song that they were playing (something about a sleazy woman), and walked offstage to face the three girls. Temari scowled at her brothers while Hinata froze up at the sight of Neji. Neji, however walked straight to Tenten and said, "Hi Yume, do you remember me? We met here a week ago."

Tenten smiled. "Yeah, I remember you! You guys are good, but your B chord is sharp."

Neji frowned slightly. Tenten looked at the stage and saw that the lights had gotten dimmer. They had told the club how they wanted the lights to start out. "Yuri, Kaminari, we're up."

Temari and Hinata gladly left the four boys in the wings, they put their instruments into position, and Temari seated herself behind the drums. Tenten could just pick out Shikamaru and Chouji in the middle of the room. Naruto and Kiba, however, had pushed their way to the front row and were cheering like mad. Tenten motioned to the other two to begin. Tenten opened with a guitar riff and Hinata and Temari followed close behind.

**Checkmate honey, beat you at your own damn game  
No dice honey, I'm livin' on a astral plane  
Feet's on the ground, and your head's goin' down the drain  
Oh, heads I win, tails you lose, to the never mind  
When to draw the line **

A Indian summer, Perry was all over the floor  
He was a wet net winner, and rarely ever left the store  
He'd sing and dance all night, and wrong all the right outa her  
Oh, pass me the vile and cross your fingers, it don't take time  
Nowhere to draw the line

Hi ho silver, we were singin' all your cowboy songs  
Oh, you told Perry, and promised him you wouldn't be long  
Heads I win, tails you lose, lord it's such a crime  
No dice honey, you the salt, you're the king of the brine  
Checkmate honey, you're the only one who's got ta choose  
Where to draw the line 

They ended to a loud applause. Tenten grabbed the mike and said, "How's everyone doing tonight?"

Enthusiastic cheers answered her question. "That one was Draw the Line for your listening pleasure. We're going into something a little less dirty right now, but bear with us. Oh, and this is called 'Still Rainin'" Tenten began to play a hard blues riff.

**Clouds, one by one, fill the sky  
Just like these tears that fill my eyes  
I know by now he ain't comin' back  
I watch my world slowly fade into black **

Look out my window it's still rainin'  
Look out my window it's still rainin'

They say that time heals everything  
I've known the pain, honey, that love can bring  
It don't get no better with each passing day  
Any hope I had is slowly slipping away

Look out my window, it's still rainin'  
Look out my window, it's still rainin'

I thought the morning would rescue me  
But the rain keeps falling so endlessly, endlessly

Sometimes I wonder what'll become of me  
There ain't much left of what I used to be  
His love shone on me just like the morning light  
But now here I am alone again tonight

Look out my window, it's still rainin'  
Look out my window, it's still rainin' 

The audience was wild at this point. Tenten looked at Hinata to see that she was a combination of excited and terrified at the same time. She could hear Naruto and Kiba yelling, "We love you guys!" With out an introduction, Tenten continued to play.

**High school seemed like such a blur,  
I didn't have much interest in sports or  
school elections.  
And in class I dreamed all day,  
About a rock 'n' roll weekend.  
And the guy in the front of the room, so close yet so far y'know he never seemed  
To notice  
That this silly school-girl crush  
Wasn't just pretend. **

Life goes by so fast, you only want to do what you think is right.  
Close your eyes and then it's past;  
Story of my life.

And I went down to my old neighborhood,  
The faces have all changed, there's no one left to talk to.  
And the pool hall I loved as a kid  
Is now a Seven Eleven.  
I went downtown to look for a job,  
I had no training, no experience to speak of.  
I looked at the holes in my jeans  
And turned and headed back.

Life goes by so fast, you only want to do what you think is right.  
Close your eyes and then it's past;  
Story of my life.

Good times come and good times go,  
I only wish the good times would last a  
Little longer.  
I think about the good times we had  
And why they had to end.  
So I sit at the edge of my bed,  
I strum my guitar and I sing an outlaw  
love song.  
Thinkin' bout what you're doin' now  
And when you're comin' back.

Life goes by so fast, you only want to do what you think is right.  
Close your eyes and then it's past;  
Story of my life. 

They finished on a strong note, and the audience cheered even more. On an impulse, Tenten sat on the edge of the stage and re positioned the mike so that she could still sing into it. Hinata did the same while Temari took a short break. "Alright guys, we're going to play you a song called 'No Rain'."

**All I can say is that my life is pretty plain  
I like watchin' the puddles gather rain  
And all I can do is just pour some tea for two  
and speak my point of view  
But it's not sane, It's not sane **

I just want some one to say to me  
I'll always be there when you wake  
Ya know I'd like to keep my cheeks dry today  
So stay with me and I'll have it made

And I don't understand why I sleep all day  
And I start to complain that there's no rain  
And all I can do is read a book to stay awake  
And it rips my life away, but it's a great escape  
escape...escape...escape...  
All I can say is that my life is pretty plain  
ya don't like my point of view  
ya think I'm insane  
It's not sane...it's not sane. 

The audience was going crazy and Tenten found it hilarious that security guards had to restrain the fans from the first row, as they were trying to mob Tenten and Hinata. They exchanged a look and motioned for Temari to come back. Once she was seated, they began to play.

**I'm looking through you, where did you go?  
I thought I knew you, what did I know?  
You don't look different, but you have changed  
I'm looking through you, you're not the same **

Your lips are moving, I cannot hear  
Your voice is soothing, but the words aren't clear  
You don't sound different, I've learned the game  
I'm looking through you, you're not the same

Why, tell me why, did you not treat me right?  
Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight

You're thinking of me, the same old way  
You were above me, but not today  
The only difference is you're down there  
I'm looking through you, and you're nowhere

Why, tell me why, did you not treat me right?  
Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight

I'm looking through you, where did you go  
I thought I knew you, what did I know  
You don't look different, but you have changed  
I'm looking through you, you're not the same

Yeah  
Oh baby I've changed  
Ah I'm looking through you  
Yeah I'm looking through you 

Tenten and Hinata stood up again. They nodded at each other; this was the dance that they had been practicing all week. They both made sure that Temari was ready before they kicked off into their next song, "Barracuda." The three of them had figured out the drum and bass parts to the song and were thrilled when Tenten had finally worked out the lyrics to the melody.

Hinata and Tenten were synchronized in their dancing, but as Tenten was left-handed and Hinata was right-handed, so their dancing ended up mirroring the other. All they were doing was moving their guitars in sync with the other while Tenten sang.

They finished the song and the crowd was thrilled. Tenten couldn't help but peek into the wings. She saw Neji's band and all except Neji were wearing looks of amazement. Neji, however, was slightly frowning. Tenten smiled to herself and said to the audience, "This one is dedicated to all you conformists out there. It's called 'Do What You Want'."

**So you were born in an electrical storm, took a bite out the sun and saw your future in a machine built for two.  
****Now your rays make me kind of go crazy,  
shock and awe and amaze me,  
just a ticker tape parade and me,  
but something was wrong till you tap danced on the air, in the night.  
Screaming at the top of your  
lungs, you said, "Come on, come on.**

**Do what you want. What could go wrong?  
Oh come on come on come on,come on, do what you want.  
Oh come on come on.  
What could go wrong? Do do do do what you want." Come on.**

**  
Me, I was raised amid the trickle-down days.  
****I woke up numb in the haze  
and saw my future machine built for two,  
but the light gave me some kind of fright.  
****How did wrong get so right and lead me stumbling through the dark of night?  
****Oh something was wrong, but you tap danced on the air, in the night,  
Screaming at the top of your lungs you said, "Come on, come on. **

**Do what you want. What could go wrong?  
Oh come oncome on come on, come on, do what you want.  
Oh come on come on. What could go wrong?  
Do do do do what you want." Come on.**

The applause was deafening. Tenten was positively smiling her face off. Naruto and Kiba were screaming their heads off. As she mentally counted the number of songs in her head, she was sad that it had to end, as this was the last one. "Alright everyone, we're going to end on a strong note. It's called 'Same Old Song And Dance'."

**Get yourself cooler, lay yourself low  
coincidental murder, with nothing to show  
with the judge, constipation will go to his head  
and his wife's aggravation, you're soon enough dead **

it's the same old story, same old song and dance, my friend  
it's the same old story, same old song and dance, my friend

gotcha with the cocaine they found with your gun  
no smoothy face lawyer to getcha undone  
say love ain't the same on the south side of town  
you could look, but you ain't gonna find it around

it's the same old story, same old song and dance, my friend  
it's the same old story, same old story  
same old song and dance

fate comes a-knockin', doors start lockin'  
your old time connection, change your direction  
ain't gonna change it, can't rearrange it  
can't stand the pain when it's all the same to you, my friend

when you're low down and dirty, from walkin' the street  
with your old hurdy-gurdy, no one to meet  
say love ain't the same, on the south side of town  
you could look, but you ain't gonna find it around 

Tenten handed Hinata her guitar so that she could run across the front of the stage to high-five the people in the front row. When she got to Kiba and Naruto, they were positively ecstatic. "Goodnight everybody!" said Tenten as she, Temari, and Hinata took a bow and ran off stage. Hinata was the first to say, "Holy crap, that was amazing!" Tenten noticed that she looked rather pink, Temari was sweating profusely, and she herself was exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. "Yume, that was amazing." Tenten whipped around to find herself face to face with Neji. "Oh, hi Neji. Thanks, it was so much fun out there-"

"I don't normally ask girls this kind of thing, but could I get your number?"

Tenten was so flabbergasted that she barely got annoyed when he interrupted her. "My number?" she asked to make sure that the noise from the music hadn't done anything to her hearing.

Neji looked a little surprised too. Tenten was sure that this was due to the fact that Neji had always been able to get any girl that he wanted for as long as she could remember. Lee had even suggested that they change their name to "The Lady Killers," as Neji was a big womanizer and Tenten had almost killed many of his fangirls.

Neji spoke up again. "If I could get it that would be great, because I think that you're pretty cool." Tenten didn't even know what to say right now. She was thrilled that Neji, her first big crush, wanted her number. She was sad at the same time though, because he was asking Yume, not Tenten. She didn't know what to say, other than, "I don't have a phone."

Neji began to shuffle his feet around. "Oh, um...well, I-"

"Neji," she began. "What if we set something up? Like a date?"

"Sure. How about next Saturday out front at 6?"

Tenten smiled. "Sounds good. See you then!" she called as his band mates walked out the back. Before Hinata and Temari could question her as to why she set up a date, Anko Mitarashi came around the corner with her cameraman in tow. She stood in front of them while saying, "Behind me I have the Ex-Girlfriends, one of the biggest music sensations in this club since The Sanin. Here are the members themselves. Could you ladies introduce yourselves?" said Anko as she shoved a mike in Hinata's face.

"I'm Kaminari," she said. "I'm Yuri," said Temari. "And I'm Yume," said Tenten.

Anko smiled at them. "Yume, Yuri, and Kaminari; beautiful names. Who started the band that is standing in front of me?"

Temari spoke first. "Well, Yume and I were hanging out after we left our previous bands and she said, "Yuri, we should start a band," and then we played our first gig as The Ex-Girlfriends here a week later."

Anko nodded before directing her next question at Hinata. "Now, you're new to the band. How did you get the highly coveted place of bass player in The Ex-Girlfriends?"

"Yume and I are friends, and when I saw her perform, I told her that the band was really good. She and I talked for a while and I told her that I play bass, among other instruments, and so Yuri came over and we played some stuff together and then I was in."

Anko nodded again. "I see. Yume, you seem to be the ringleader in the band. Do you take credit for the idea of the band?"

Tenten could see what she was trying to do, and she wasn't about to let Anko pull her famous 'Mitarashi-band-breakup.' "Anko, I take no credit whatsoever. All three of us are part of this band and we share the credit evenly. When we started the band, Yuri and I were lamenting the stupidity of our previous bands, and we asked Kaminari because she is amazing."

Anko frowned slightly before turning back to her cameraman. "You heard the story of the band straight from the members themselves. This is Anko Mitarashi reporting." Her cameraman yelled cut, and Anko turned back to Tenten. "Nice, kid. You didn't embarrass yourself, or screw up your band chemistry. You guys could make it." And with that, she left with her cameraman running in her wake.

Tenten and Hinata headed back to Tenten's apartment after hugging Temari goodbye. While they were in the car, they talked about the show.

"Did you see Naruto and Kiba in the front row?" Said Tenten. "I thought they would faint!"

Hinata laughed. "You were too busy singing, but Chouji was really getting into it. Shikamaru was being his normal self."

"Hinata, when does Shikamaru show any type of outward emotion other than annoyance?"

"I'll tell you, when he was staring at Temari the whole time."

Tenten slammed on the brake when they approached a red light. "What? How could you tell? He was, like, 20 rows away!"

"I counted 15 actually. He and Chouji moved closer when we played 'No Rain.' But anyway, he looked a little annoyed when Temari left the stage."

The light turned green and Tenten sped up. "Shikamaru and Temari? They're total opposites! He's lazy and doesn't care about anything except art, and Temari is loud and...loud!"

Hinata held up her hands. "I'm just saying that he seemed more attentive than usual. And it looks like Chouji and Ino got in a shouting match."

They pulled up to Tenten's apartment complex and got out of the car. "How much did I miss?" exclaimed Tenten as she unlocked the door to the building.

"I don't know," said Hinata as they walked up the stairs. "But Ino looked really pissed afterwards, and Chouji looked kind of relived."

Tenten unlocked her apartment and flung herself at her couch. "Serves Ino right; she's been picking on Chouji for being overweight since the second grade. It's about time she got what was coming to her."

Hinata closed the door behind her and helped Tenten find a sleeping bag for her. "I never asked you, what do you think of the guys in our group?" said Hinata.

Tenten held up her hand and numbered them off. "Shikamaru is too lazy, Chouji is sweet but he's married to theatre, Shino is just plain weird, Naruto is too loud, and Kiba is in love with his dog. Have I covered them all?"

Hinata smirked slightly. "You forgot Neji."

Tenten blushed. "You know how I feel about him...plus he would never date me. He kicked me out of his band, remember?"

Hinata sighed. "But you just set up a date with him!"

"Hinata, Neji has a date with Yume on Saturday, not me."

"But you're the same person! That shouldn't make a difference!"

Tenten smiled sadly. "It does to him. Come on, let's got to bed. That concert took it out of me."

They pulled on their pajamas and Tenten flopped on her bed while Hinata crawled into her sleeping bag. "Tenten?"

"Yes Hinata?"

"What are you going to do if Neji finds out that you and Yume are the same person?"

Tenten paused for a moment. "I don't know." Tenten would never admit it out loud, but she was incredibly excited for her date next week. She had been dreaming of asking out Neji since they started the band three years ago.

_You know,_ thought Tenten. _Having an alter ego is nice. You don't feel responsibility in that half of your life and you feel...free._

_

* * *

_

Draw The Line-Aerosmith  
Still Rainin'-Johnny Lang  
Story of My Life-Social Distortion  
No Rain-Blind Melon  
I'm Looking Through You-The Beatles  
Barracuda-Heart  
Do What You Want-Ok Go  
Same Old Song And Dance-Aerosmith

Hope you liked the chapter. It was long, but I am trying to go for quality over quantity and I hope I succeeded. I have finals this week, so wish me just enough luck that I don't fail and get grounded from the computer because that means that I can't get chapter 4 out. I'll most likely concentrate on this fic before moving on to my other two, and then starting one that my debate partner helped me with. Reviews are much appreciated. Next Chapter: The Date!


	4. The Date and A Love Triangle

Hey everyone, it's Chapter 4! Sorry for the long update, but I have that thing called life to deal with. Thanks to everyone for the lovely reviews, favorites, and alerts. I have over 250 hits for this story and I couldn't be happier. Now, for the disclaimer.

Temari: meliesan does not own Naruto or the songs mentioned in the following. If she did own Naruto, I would have gotten paired with Ino in the first chuunin exam, and I would have kicked her ass (and promptly made out with Shikamaru).

* * *

Tenten woke up dazed the next day. She wasn't sure if Neji asking her out actually happened because it seemed too good to be true. Then she heard muffled voices coming from the kitchen and she got up to investigate.

She found Hinata eating a piece of toast while watching the local news and entertainment report on TV. "Hinata, did Neji ask me out last night?"

Hinata nodded and said, "He did. You have to check this out, I turned on the TV, and the person said something about Ichiraku's last night. They might show us on there."

Tenten said nothing and made herself some cereal and some tea. She had just sat down when the news station showed a clip of them sitting on the edge of the stage playing "No Rain." Anko's voice then carried over their song saying, "The band Stranger Danger opened with three songs here at Ichiraku's last night, but the real stars were The Ex-Girlfriends, playing with what appears to be a new member. They had an eight song set that the crowd went crazy for. After the show, I had a rare opportunity to interview the girls about their feelings on the band and the popularity."

The footage then switched to the interview when Anko cornered them backstage. They played the whole clip (Hinata and Tenten laughed at how odd they looked that night) and then it switched to Anko standing in front of the stage. "As you can see, Yume, Yuri, and Kaminari are on their way to something big, and perhaps a big win at the Ultimate Battle of the Bands that will take place here next month. This has been Anko Mitarashi from Ichiraku's."

Hinata's father called and wanted Hinata home. A Hyuga chauffer came by to pick her up, and Tenten was left alone in her apartment with her excited thoughts. Not thinking of anyway that she could possibly express herself with out making the neighbors deaf, she chose to play music and dance like a maniac.

She would never admit this to anyone, but Tenten had a soft spot for pop music. There was a group called The Sound Five, and they were from Otogukare. They had only one female member, but all of their songs were written from the perspective of the singer, Tayuya. Tenten admired the fact that the songs were about either girl power or revenge on guys.

Her phone rang, and she had to pause the music before answering. "Hello?"

"Is this Yume from The Ex-Girlfriends? It's Ichiraku's finance manager."

"Oh! Yes, this is Yume. Was there a problem last night?"

The man on the other end laughed. "No, things couldn't have gone smoother! We just wanted to know when you and the rest of the band members would pick up your earnings from last night."

Tenten just remembered that they had gotten paid. "Oh, yeah. How much did we pull in?"

The man on the other end coughed and said, "We charged twenty-five bucks per person, and three hundred, give or take a few, showed up. The girl that arranged the show on Monday last week was a tough bargainer and she demanded that you take 35 percent of the total earnings, and Stranger Danger got 15. Overall, you guys pulled in 3500, and you each made-" Tenten could hear the rustling of paper in the background. "One-thousand one hundred sixty six dollars and sixty six cents. When will you pick up the checks?"

"I can pick them all up this afternoon. Thank you for calling!"

The man said, "You're welcome," and hung up. Tenten immediately called Temari. "Temari, we need to open a bank account for The Ex-Girlfriends."

"I already opened one for each of us under our band names. We got paid didn't we? How much?"

"The band total got 3500. Each of us got a little more than 1100."

Temari whistled loudly. "I demanded 35 percent, but I didn't know we'd get that much!"

"The guy said that you're a tough bargainer. It looks like all of Suna Academy and Konoha Academy was there last night."

Temari laughed. "It honestly wouldn't surprise me if the whole student population of both our schools were there last night. Gaara was really pissed off about last night though."

Tenten was puzzled. "Why would he be mad about opening for us?"

"He wasn't mad about that. He was mad that Neji broke up the band after only one show."

Tenten almost dropped the phone. "Why did Neji break up the band? They weren't-Ok, they were bad, but they got a plug this morning, so I don't get why Neji broke them up all of a sudden."

"Kankuro said it had something to do with Neji, 'moving on to bigger and better things.'"

Tenten frowned. "Hmm... Do you remember my friend Shikamaru?"

Temari sounded defensive now. "Yeah... why?"

"Because he couldn't take his eyes off you the whole time you were playing, and he looked very disappointed when you took a break during 'No Rain.'"

Temari was silent for a long time before saying, "I... uh, I have to go... Talk to you later!" She hung up very abruptly. Tenten laughed and started playing her music again. Temari and Shikamaru would be one interesting couple...

* * *

She picked up the checks from Ichiraku's and deposited her own with the account number that Temari gave her. She also received a debit card so that she could make transactions easier. She had a feeling that thousand dollars she just put into her account would be the first of many.

Monday was one of the most interesting days Tenten had ever experienced in her life. Everyone at school was talking about The Ex-Girlfriends ("They're so hot!" "The new member is amazing!" "When will they sell t-shirts?"), or they were talking about the fact that Neji Hyuga, first chair violinist in the orchestra, had a date with the lead singer. Word got around, and over the weekend, he became an instant celebrity. Tenten was a little confused when he approached Naruto and Shikamaru during lunch, and they were in deep discussion the whole time. Chouji looked satisfied the whole day, without giving a reason why. Tenten assumed that it had something to do with telling Ino off at the show.

The week seemed to breeze by, and before she knew it, the day of the date had arrived.

Tenten was excited and nervous at the same time. She picked out a black dress with white detail to wear, and she parted her hair to the left as opposed to the center, which was the part that she'd had for a long time. Her hair was curled in loose ringlets and she bought a nice pair of black, high heels to make herself seem taller. She applied makeup and put in her contacts. Neji told her to meet outside Ichiraku's at six, and it was now five forty-five. The drive to Ichiraku's was only five minutes, but she wanted to park a block or two away, then walk so that he didn't see Yume driving Tenten's car as that would raise some odd questions. She parked her car in the back lot of The Keg, and walked the three blocks to Ichiraku's. When she finally got there, Neji was waiting for her in what she thought was an incredibly hot tailored suit. He greeted her with a half smile (that was an accomplishment from Neji), and said, "Hey. Do you want to go inside before we leave for dinner?" Tenten nodded and followed him in.

The room of Ichiraku's was less crowded than when The Ex-Girlfriends played. She instantly recognized the singer and squealed lightly to find out that the group that was playing was The Sound Five. Neji smiled a little and pushed their way to the front row so that she could see them better. Tenten had only seen them live once before, and she had to travel to Otogukare for the show. Frankly, she was surprised that Ichiraku's had even booked The Sound Five to play, as they were often regarded as rockers-turned-pop artists.

The song finished, and while the audience clapped, the lead singer Tayuya spotted Tenten. "Ladies and gentleman, we have the lead singer for The Ex-Girlfriends in the audience tonight. Should she sing with us?"

The crowd was clapping loudly and chanting, "Sing, sing, sing!" Tayuya was beckoning her to climb up and sing. Tenten kept motioning to Tayuya that she should just continue with the show, but Tayuya insisted. With the help of two security guards, Tenten made it up there. She could have climbed up fine by herself, but she didn't feel like exposing her underwear to the whole crowd. When she was finally up on stage, the crowd cheered. Tenten smiled and said, "Alright, but I'll only sing one song." Tayuya turned to her and said, "Which one?"

"'Misery Business' is the only one that I know all the words for sure to."

Tayuya turned to the guitarist/backup singer and said, "Kimimaru, you still sing backup. Everyone, we're doing Misery Business." They all nodded and readied themselves. Tenten faced the audience and said, "This song is by the amazing band behind me, and it's called Misery Business." Jirobo the drummer started them out and the song began.

**I'm in the business of misery,  
Let's take it from the top.  
She's got a body like an hourglass that's ticking like a clock.  
It's a matter of time before we all run out,  
When I thought he was mine she caught him by the mouth.**

****

I waited eight long months,  
She finally set him free.  
I told him I can't lie he was the only one for me.  
Two weeks and we had caught on fire,  
She's got it out for me,  
But I wear the biggest smile.

Whoa, I never meant to brag  
But, I got him where I want him now.  
Whoa, it was never my intention to brag  
To steal it all away from you now.  
But god does it feel so good,  
Cause I got him where I want him now.  
And if you could then you know you would.  
Cause god it just feels so...  
It just feels so good.

Second chances they don't ever matter, people never change.  
Once a whore you're nothing more, I'm sorry, that'll never change.  
And about forgiveness, we're both supposed to have exchanged.  
I'm sorry honey, but I'm passing up, now look this way.  
Well there's a million other girls who do it just like you.  
Looking as innocent as possible to get to who,  
They want and what they like it's easy if you do it right.  
Well I refuse, I refuse, I refuse!

Whoa, I never meant to brag  
But, I got him where I want him now.  
Whoa, it was never my intention to brag  
To steal it all away from you now.  
But god does it feel so good,  
Cause I got him where I want him right now.  
And if you could then you know you would.  
Cause god it just feels so...  
It just feels so good.

I watched his wildest dreams come true  
Not one of them involving you  
Just watch my wildest dreams come true  
Not one of them involving.

**Whoa, I never meant to brag,  
But I got him where I want him now.  
Whoa, I never meant to brag  
But I got him where I want him now.  
Whoa, it was never my intention to brag  
To steal it all away from you now.  
But god does it feel so good,  
Cause I got him where I want him now.  
And if you could then you know you would.  
Cause god it just feels so...  
It just feels so good.**

The audience clapped, cheered, and whistled. As Tenten jumped off the stage, Tayuya said, "Give it up for Yume of The Ex-Girlfriends!" The audience clapped even louder as Neji and Tenten exited the building. "Neji, how did you know that I liked The Sound Five?" Neji shrugged, smiled, and said, "Come on, let's go to dinner."

He took her to the Twin Dragons restaurant, where Tenten felt very out of place. Twin Dragons was where the rich of Konoha eat out, and being the regular city girl she was, she stood in the doorway awkwardly with Neji until a waiter who knew Neji by name, escorted them to a nice table by one of the many fish tanks that acted as the decorations for the restaurant. All Tenten could do was stare at them in amazement while Neji laughed quietly. "Neji, I don't know if I'm rich enough to even be here."

Neji waved it off. "Don't be silly Yume, you're fine. Either way, I'm paying," he said as Tenten eyed the menus warily. She opened the menu and quickly discovered that the cheapest item was 50 dollars. "Neji, seriously, I would be perfectly happy if we ate at Burger King. You don't have to take me to a fancy place like this."

Neji took her hand in his and said, "I'm taking you on a date. I want to show you to the best that this city and I have to offer you. At least let me treat you tonight."

Tenten could have swooned on the spot if she wanted to. This was the date that she had been waiting for since she met him in sixth grade in pre-art school academy. Neji let go of her hand and picked up his menu to order. Tenten hurriedly picked up hers to hide her deep blush that was creeping up her cheeks. An enthusiastic waitress popped up and said coolly, "Good evening Mr. Hyuga. What can I get you and... Oh my God, you're Yume!" The waitress had completely forgotten her calm demeanor, pulled out a blank piece of paper, and asked Tenten to autograph it. A flustered Tenten signed it, "To Ami, love Yume from The Ex-Girlfriends." The waitress then took their orders (Neji ordered Calamari and Tenten ordered California Rolls) and hurried away excitedly. Tenten looked at Neji to find that he was chuckling quietly. "What's so funny?" she frowned.

"You're going to have to get used to fans. Your band is getting quite popular around Konoha, so it's to be expected," he said as he sipped his water.

Tenten grinned sheepishly. "We're not **that** popular."

Neji shrugged and they made small talk, but all Neji seemed to do was talk about himself and what he had done (first chair violinist, rich family, ect...). Tenten was tapping her fingers against the table when their food came. _Finally,_ she thought. _His mouth will be full of food so he can shut up._ This was definitely not going as she pictured that her dream date with Neji would go. For one thing, he would have at least asked her about herself.

She munched on her California Rolls as slow as possible so that she didn't have to say anything to his ridiculously implausible stories about past vacations or run-ins with celebrities. She was relieved when he finished his ridiculous tale of meeting Orochimaru of The Sanin and playing a song with him. Then he said, "Yume, I have to get to business before this dinner is over."

Tenten's heart sank. _So this was a business outing._ Instantly becoming cold and annoyed she said, "What kind of business?"

"I have a new band that needs publicity and you have a band that needs a bigger audience. I feel that it would be in both our interests if we helped each other out. The music business is a tough one, and it helps if you have an ally. I would pay for all the publicity stuff for you and you would let us open for every concert that you would do."

Tenten frowned. "So let me get this straight; you want your band that nobody has ever heard of, to piggyback on the success of mine? You want to get to the top with little to no work involved on your part?" Tenten was so angry, she didn't realize that she was standing and yelling until the whole restaurant was staring at them and her feet began to ache due to her heels. Neji looked a little afraid but said, "When you put it like that it sounds bad. It's more like a, 'You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' situation."

Tenten was really pissed off now. "Hell no," she whispered dangerously. "My band is mine, and we don't need you to pay people to talk about us. We're generating enough of that on something called talent," and she stormed out of the restaurant. Neji was stuck with the bill, so he couldn't follow her. Tenten ran to her car with an angry expression plastered on her face. She made it to her car, threw a jacket over her dress, and drove away.

* * *

Tenten parked outside a convenience store and tied up her hair in two buns, took a big hair band, and pushed her bangs back. She then got out of her car, locked it, and walked inside in search of ice cream. She found two pints of Ben and Jerry's, paid, and went back to her car to speed away to Suna.

When she knocked on Temari's door with the two pints of ice cream in her hands, she didn't know what to expect. Temari's mother died when she was young and her father was always busy as the Mayor of Suna, so she and her brothers were left to their own devices most nights. Not a smart move on their father's part, as the family was decently wealthy. Thankfully, Temari answered with a concerned face. "Tenten, come in! What's up?"

Tenten began to cry, the first time she had ever cried in several years, and she found that she couldn't stop. Temari ushered her into the home theater and asked what was wrong. Before Tenten could stop herself, she spilled out everything that happened on the date. From the concert to the dinner to when he grabbed her hand to the business proposal. "What,"-sniff, "really annoys me is,"-sniff, "it was a business dinner and,"-sniff, "he was as casual as,"-sniff, "as if he did that sort of thing all the time!" She lost it at this point. Temari was patting her on the back and hugging her the whole time. Kankuro came in at one point, but Temari told him to go do something that was anatomically impossible. He got rather huffy and left the two girls in their peace.

"Tenten, listen to me. You're the one that I always went to when I was having man trouble, so pull yourself together. You're Miss I-Don't-Need-A-Man, so why should that change now? You are strong, independent, and sexy. We're going to watch old movies, eat this ice cream, bitch about men, and write songs. What do you say?"

Tenten nodded and shuffled over to Temari's family's enormous DVD collection. She picked her three favorite movies (Rear Window, Charade, and You've Got Mail. You've Got Mail isn't old, But it is amazing.), and she popped in Rear Window. She ate fast during the suspenseful parts and gasped (for the millionth time) when James Stewart was hanging out the window. Temari just rolled her eyes and when that was done, she put in Charade. They both laughed at the banter between Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn and said, "Awww," at the end. They put in You've Got Mail, and Tenten cried at the end. It was 3:30 AM by the time they finished, and they fell asleep on opposite ends of the couch.

Tenten woke up at 11:00 AM that morning. Temari had already left the couch and the smell of toast wafted through the room. She got up and wandered into the large kitchen. "Good morning sleepy head. You look seriously hung over or like you just went to the craziest party ever." Tenten walked to the bathroom and saw that Temari was right. Her dress was crinkled and her hair band had slipped off to reveal frizzy bangs. Tenten was also missing her shoes. After some investigating, she found that Temari was wearing them. When Tenten walked back to the kitchen, Temari commented, "Christian Louboutin. I love the shoes, but these things must have cost you that whole paycheck from Ichiraku's."

"They didn't cost that much. They were on sale at Saks."

Temari rolled her eyes and slipped the shoes off. "Either way," said Temari, "I feel like shopping today."

* * *

That's why they were parking Tenten's car at Leaf Village, the biggest mall in Konoha an hour later. Tenten borrowed some clothes from Temari and wore Converse instead of her high heels. Armed with only their spoils from their last show, they set out. Tenten got some cute ballet flats while Temari splurged on a designer handbag ("Temari, how many of those things are you going to buy before you realize you rarely use them?"). They were walking to the food court when they ran into Shikamaru.

And Ino.

Together.

Making out.

If Temari could have screamed, she would have. Except for the fact that no sound came out. She couldn't find her voice and she stood there stupidly with her mouth hanging open and moving wordlessly like a fish's. Tenten was just as shocked. Shikamaru caught sight of them and withdrew his tongue from Ino's mouth, with the sound of a plunger removing itself from a bathtub. Both pairs stared awkwardly at each other for a long time. Temari seemed to be giving both Shikamaru and Ino a death glare at the same time while Tenten could only be concerned for Chouji. He would be heartbroken when he found out that his best friend was sucking face with his bully. Shikamaru seemed to try to be avoiding everyone's eyes while Ino was standing there awkwardly, feeling the intensity of Temari's glare. Tenten was the first one to regain any sense of movement and she pushed Temari to the girls bathroom while giving Shikamaru a "we'll-talk-about-this-later" look.

Once they were in the bathroom, Temari screamed several curse words together in sentences in ways that Tenten had no idea even existed. The screaming drove everyone out of the bathroom so that Temari and Tenten were the only occupants. "What the hell is he thinking?" she yelled.

"I have no-" began Tenten.

"Seriously, from what you told me, she is dumb and shallow and doesn't deserve him. Why?"

Temari let out another shriek and Tenten said, "Let's go back to your house."

They exited the bathroom and Shikamaru and Ino were nowhere to be seen. Almost pushing a shocked and angry Temari out the mall door, they got in Tenten's car and drove back to Temari's house. The whole drive was awkward with Tenten trying to keep Temari calm while Temari wanted to go back and rip Ino's head off. When they pulled up in Temari's driveway, Tenten motioned to get out of the car, but Temari said in a hoarse voice, "I'll be fine. I'll get your stuff." Tenten waited anxiously and when Temari came back with her folded dress and heels, they hugged and Tenten said, "I'll call you tonight."

When Tenten got back to her apartment, she looked at the expressive drawing that Kakashi wanted turned in by Monday. The picture she was drawing from was one of Tsunade playing guitar very angrily against contrast lighting. Earlier, she hadn't been able to get Tsunade's angry expression right and left the face blank before preparing for her date with Neji. Now, she stared at the paper before picking up a graphite pencil and drawing away. She knew Tsunade's face well so she didn't have to look at the picture clipped to her large drawing board. It had been almost three hours when she stepped back to look at what she had done. Tsunade was crying in a combination of anger and sadness that could only be captured when in that state of emotion. Tenten realized the time and called Temari to make sure she was all right. Temari picked up on the first ring. "Hello?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Great," said Temari sarcastically. "Really, just peachy."

"You know what I mean."

"I'm better actually. In fact, I wrote a song. With your singing, we get Hinata to sing backup and we've got something great."

* * *

Hope you liked it! It took me a while, but I got a new idea for a fic. Don't worry; I'll still concentrate on this. Otherwise, I'll develop a big problem of starting stories and never finishing them. Next time: Revenge of The Ex-Girlfriends!


	5. Revenge of The Ex Girlfriends

I'm over 300 hits! Thanks to all reviewers/alerters/favoriters/readers of this story. It wouldn't be this much fun to write without you all. I also imagine Tenten's panda puns as kind of messy and on the side of her head, not the top. Seems like the kind of thing she would do if she weren't fighting ninja all the time.

I own Naruto. Just kidding Kishimoto!

* * *

Tenten was back at school on Monday and carrying her drawing for Kakashi with her everywhere. She had cried a lot the previous night, but she had great ideas for a song, which explained why she was cursing a lot in Kurenai's T.A. class. Hinata was helping her with the lyrics (and stopping Tenten from naming names in the song) and the tune, as she finished the basic shapes drawing that the class was doing. "Tenten, could you replace scumbag with something else?"

"But it's true! He is a scumbag!"

Hinata sighed. "If you're going to insult my cousin, make it less obvious. He's not dumb, you know."

Tenten was silent for a while. "Ok... I know it's not the same, but how about we replace 'scumbag' with 'Rolling Stone?'"

Hinata thought a minute. "That's good. Rolling Stone could be taken many different ways, so that's OK."

Tenten smiled a little to herself as she replaced scumbag (she wrote it four times all together) with Rolling Stone. The bell rang and she packed up her stuff to make way through the crowded hallways to lunch. She laughed at how crazy the rumors about Neji's date with Yume had gotten. They ranged from, "they never went on a date. It was just a stunt by them to get us to come to more shows." To, "I heard she stood him up," to, "They had breakup sex last night. I heard so from Neji's maid!" Tenten just laughed at all the crazy speculation. It was actually quite entertaining.

Tenten sat down at lunch with Hinata, Shino, Naruto, Kiba, and Chouji. Now that Ino and Shikamaru were a couple, which meant Shikamaru was subject to sitting with Ino and all of Ino's rich-bitch friends who could not stop talking about how they had supposedly partied with The Ex-Girlfriends. Tenten thought it was for the best, as Chouji hadn't answered his phone Sunday night and had barely touched his barbecue pork that afternoon. Tenten edged closer to him. "You feel like telling?"

He didn't look up. "What the hell was he thinking? He knows how miserable that witch has made my life! I just don't understand..." Chouji buried his face in his hands and was quiet for a long time. For the first time since Tenten could remember, Chouji was speechless. He always had the right thing to say at the right moment, but his acting skills seemed to have failed him. They had twenty minutes until the bell for class rang. "Let's take a walk," said Tenten comfortingly.

They packed in silence while Naruto gave them a funny look as if to say, "Are you going to finish that?" They walked through the deserted halls where the ringing silence was never ending. They walked through the door to the gardens that the Feng Shui club was constantly rearranging when they stopped at a bench under a willow tree. Chouji was choking back tears as he said, "I know this is a stupid and trivial thing to worry about that won't affect me in the long run, but I can't help but care."

When he said this, he flat out began to cry. Tenten wrapped her arms around his thick frame and comforted him like a mother comforts a child. She had no idea how long they sat there, crying and hugging, and all she knew is that nothing except Chouji's feelings mattered at the moment. She saw some lovers that had been making out in the bushes head inside, and assumed that the bell would ring at any moment. She let go of Chouji and said, "Cheer up. The show must go on, and you've never missed a minute of Advanced Theatre Arts. Let's go." They walked inside the building and she walked him over to the theatre department, where he hugged her and said, "Thank you. Thank you so much." He then entered class as the bell rang, and Tenten shuffled over to the art department with one problem solved, and many more to go, and she had to deal with Shikamaru next.

Kakashi was early for once since Tenten could remember. He had a box open on his desk for completed drawings. Shikamaru shuffled in with his rolled up drawing in one hand and his iPod in the other. The tardy bell rang and all the students had the same surprised reaction when they saw Kakashi on time. He said, "Line up to drop your drawings in the box everyone!" The students did as instructed, and Tenten ended up right behind Shikamaru. Almost all the anti-social kids did different ones of girls with runny mascara from crying or the morbid ones did a pool of blood. There were a few rich girls who did lots of happy pictures, but Tenten could tell she was one of the few that actually put emotion into her drawings. "Is Chouji OK?" asked Shikamaru in a whispered voice so that other students wouldn't eavesdrop.

"He will be, no thanks to you," hissed Tenten.

"It's not my fault," he hissed back.

"OK, let me see, you and Chouji have been friends since second grade, and Ino's been torturing the poor kid since about that time too. Now at what point when you and Ino were making out yesterday did you even think about Chouji's feelings? You know what she does to his self-confidence? She sucks it so dry that it's drier than a desert and the fact that his best friend went behind his back to suck face with that whore is definitely not helping the situation."

Shikamaru whipped around and she saw that he was actually angry. "Alright, I'll take the jabs at me for going out with Ino, and I probably deserve them too, but you will not take a swing at my girlfriend."

"Tenten, Shikamaru, sorry to interrupt your charming conversation, but Shikamaru has to turn in his drawing and you're holding up the line," said Kakashi.

Shikamaru threw his drawing in the box and Tenten saw that it was of Temari with her sunglasses on and acting cool when she came to hear Hinata. _So he still liked Temari..._ She threw her drawing in after his and dashed back up to the table that she shared with Shikamaru, feeling very slightly more sympathetic towards him. Very slightly being the key words there.

She sat down next to him and whispered, "I will say what ever I please about her because she has been mentally skewering Chouji's mind since I can remember."

Shikamaru glared at her before whispering back, "She has not. He already had insecurity issues."

"Which she made apparent! Do you realize how many times I've had to comfort him because of her stupid remarks? You have no idea the kind of mental strain that bitch puts on him. He is an amazing actor and he doesn't need more drama to deal with."

"Don't ever call my girlfriend a bitch."

"I would stop, but I only speak the truth. That's another thing, how long have you two been going out? Two days tops and you're already calling her your girlfriend. Did you ever consider the fact that she enjoys torturing Chouji so much that she just might go out with his best friend in order to make him feel terrible?"

"SHUT UP!" Shikamaru's yell was deaf on most ears of the class, due to the rise in the noise level. Kakashi had posted a new assignment and the class had gotten busy getting paper and other supplies. Shikamaru was really angry now, and Tenten took almost a sick pleasure out of seeing him like this. Shikamaru was a smart kid, but he could really have his head up his ass sometimes.

"Are you so defensive because you won't admit that you actually like Temari and not Ino?"

Shikamaru froze and slowly turned to face her. All traces of anger were gone and replaced with annoyance. "Don't be ridiculous," he said.

"How am I being ridiculous? Your drawing was of Temari. Don't tell me that doesn't mean anything."

He was silent for a while before slouching in a deflated kind of way. "Temari is beautiful and she seems like a loyal friend to you. I would never have a chance with her, so when Ino asked me out on Friday, I figured, what have I got to lose?"

Tenten's expression softened. "You have Chouji to lose, that's what. And you would have a chance with Temari if you would pull your head out of your ass once in a while."

Shikamaru looked hopeful. "You think so?"

"I know so. She's an open person and she wouldn't mind the laziness."

"Well," said Shikamaru slowly, "Ino's rather high-maintenance and is the most troublesome woman I've ever met. Even the detachment process would take a month."

Kakashi stood up and said to the class, "The winners for best drawings go to Shikamaru and Tenten. I can tell you guys put a lot of emotion into these."

The bell rang and Tenten realized how fast the class passed during her talk with Shikamaru. She walked to her final class of the day, Color Theory, and pondered the odd complications that entered her life these past few weeks.

The bell rang at the end of the day, and Tenten almost sprinted to her car. Today she and Hinata were driving to Suna for rehearsals, and Tenten couldn't wait to see what song Temari had come up with. Hinata popped up a few minutes later, and they were off. Apparently, Hinata was bored during Art Seminar, so she wrote a kooky song that she called "Walk Like an Egyptian." Hinata was excited about Temari's fabled song as well. "What do you think it's about?" she asked.

Tenten laughed. "Knowing Temari, it will be about boyfriend stealing. Hold on someone is calling me." Tenten whipped her phone out of her pocket and tossed it to Hinata. "I'm driving. You answer."

"Hello? It's Temari! Hold on Temari, let me put you on speaker phone." Hinata pressed a button and Temari's voice filled the car. "Tenten, the school band is doing something, so head to my house to rehearse."

"Won't your brothers recognize us?" asked Tenten while letting someone pass her.

"They're out right now. Kankuro is a drum major in the band and Gaara is working lights for the theater, so I have the house to myself. Love you and see you both in a minute." Temari then hung up.

Tenten switched lanes to exit towards Temari's house. They got there in fifteen minutes and Temari cheerily answered the door. They went to her garage and began to set up. Temari already had a drum set and Hinata had taken to leaving her bass guitar in Tenten's car, as they always went to Suna in Tenten's car anyway. When they were set up, Temari whipped out lyrics from her pocket. "Behold the wonder that angst does for one's musical creativity."

Tenten laughed and took out her own lyrics that she perfected that morning while Hinata pulled out hers. They all traded counterclockwise so that Tenten was reading Temari's, Hinata was reading Tenten's, and Temari was reading Hinata's. Temari's were better than Tenten expected them to be, but they sounded almost pop-ish. They switched when each of them were done and Tenten read Hinata's. "Walk Like an Egyptian," was much more of a feel good song and had no underlying message, unlike Tenten's or Temari's. Temari spoke first when they had all traded back. "All of them could work, but auditions for the Ultimate Battle of the Bands are in three days, so we need an audition song because I want to save these for the battle itself."

Tenten and Hinata nodded in agreement. "I think we should play Tenten's song for the auditions. It's really good, so the judges wouldn't be too angry if we played the same song twice," said Hinata. "Plus," she added, "at this point we could get in on just our name alone." Temari and Tenten mumbled a "yeah," and thought for a minute. It was true that their popularity among the population of Konoha was growing rapidly, but they wanted to be accepted on talent and not word of mouth. "Tenten?"

Tenten looked up when her name was called by Temari. "Yes?"

"Could you show us how to play your song?"

So they played Tenten's song for almost three hours. They worked out the tempo and when they had to switch keys. They had to stop at six thirty because Temari's dad came home unusually early. They said goodbye to each other and Tenten drove to drop Hinata off at the Hyuga mansion. It took them a half hour to get there, and when Tenten pulled up into the roundabout driveway, Hinata stopped and asked, "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

Tenten laughed. "I don't think I could eat another dinner with Neji."

Hinata rolled her eyes. "He thought you were Yume when he said that stupid crap. Please stay, I worry about you eating alone. For all I know, you could be eating Pop Tarts for dinner and you could be malnourished. If you are malnourished, then you will pass out and die when we play for auditions, and then the band fails and it's just a drummer and a bassist. So if you don't stay for dinner, you will die and Temari and I will suffer greatly."

Tenten laughed. She was actually planning on making Chicken Cordon Bleu burgers for dinner and saving a few for school lunches, as they seemed poisonous these days. "How could I deny logic that masterful?" She parked her car and she and Hinata walked up the steps to the mansion.

Tenten had only ever been inside the mansion once back in fourth grade, and it had absolutely terrified her. Everything was marble white, so it gave the impression of a large, cold, unwelcoming museum. All the maids seemed to frown and they all bowed when Hinata walked past them, mostly because they were paid to. After navigating their way through the giant mansion, Tenten swore that they must need a map to get around, because everything began to look familiar and yet different at the same time. They passed a large and elaborately decorated dining room that Tenten motioned to go inside, but Hinata said without looking, "That's the fancy dining room that father uses when he's entertaining guests. We're a few rooms down." They walked for five minutes before Hinata stopped and turned into a room that was much less fancy, but still impressive nonetheless. It overlooked what appeared to be the kitchen. Hinata's father and Neji were already sitting at the table in deep conversation about getting Neji a new violin, when they finally seemed to notice Hinata and Tenten. Neji's eyes glanced over them and did a double take when he saw Tenten. He looked at her oddly while Hinata's father said, "Well Tenten, you're a face I haven't seen in a long time!"

Tenten smiled. "Hello Mr. Hyuga. How are you?"

"I'm very well, thank you. You look very nice yourself. Much more, oh, what's the word? Not relaxed, it's..."

"Liberated?" piped up a cook from the kitchen.

"Yes! Liberated! Thank you Hiro. As I was saying, you look much more liberated than the last time I saw you."

Tenten glanced at Neji (who looked away hurriedly) before replying, "I've started doing exactly what I've wanted to do for a long time."

The cook called Hiro came in with three glasses of water and a glass of wine, which Hiashi took. "Well Tenten," said Hiashi picking up his glass. "Congratulations on following your wishes. Goodness knows how long I've wanted to do exactly what you are doing." Hiashi raised his glass to her and took a sip. Hiro came out of the kitchen balancing three plates of something that smelled amazing. He set them down in front of Neji, Hinata, and Hiashi. Hiro bowed in front of Tenten and said, "Forgive me; I was not expecting a fourth guest. What would you like to eat?"

Tenten waved it off. "Don't worry about it. I was planning on making Chicken Cordon Bleu for dinner before Hinata invited me. Could I make my own?" Tenten said excitedly.

Hiro gave a nervous glance at Hiashi before welcoming her into the kitchen and showing her where all the ingredients were located. Knowing exactly what ingredients were needed, having memorized them at age eight. She pulled spices out of the kitchen's extensive spice cabinet. Hiro gave her the meat, and she began cooking away, humming "Do What You Want" softly. She had to keep blowing her bangs out of her face because the steam coming off the chicken was making her hair stick to her head. She could also feel Neji's eyes digging into her back, but she ignored him. At this point, she had many reasons to be cold towards Neji.

The chicken was done and she fixed it up and it looked like the best burger she would ever eat. She put it on her plate and carried it out to the table where Neji was done and clearly annoyed that he couldn't leave. He stared at Tenten as she came back out. Tenten sat down and began to eat, and out of her peripheral vision, she saw Neji shake his head a little like a dog trying to get rid of flies. She continued to eat while Hiashi talked to Hinata about being an Art Honor Society Student. When Tenten finished her burger, she leaned back in a satisfied way and watched Neji get up and leave. Hiashi and Hinata were still in deep conversation about the Art Honor Society, so Tenten got up to leave as well and decided to explore. She walked from room to room with no real purpose until she heard a piano playing. She thought it might be Hinabi, but as she stumbled into the room where the music was coming from, she found Neji playing the piano.

He stopped playing, looked up at her, and motioned to a guitar sitting next to the piano. Tenten let out a harsh laugh. "You think after kicking me out of the band I'll play with you again?"

He just kept motioning to the guitar and said, "Please? I have lyrics." He held up two papers and Tenten sighed, sat down, and picked up the guitar. Neji handed her lyrics to a duet and he began to softly play the piano. She played by ear to what he was playing and he began to sing.

**I don't know you   
But I want you   
All the more for that**

She joined him in singing.

**Words fall through me   
And always fool me   
And I can't react**

She stopped singing and left it to him and chuckled quietly at how off key Neji was.

**And games that never amount   
To more than they're meant   
Will play themselves out**

She joined him again, beginning to warm up to the song.

**Take this sinking boat and point it home   
We've still got time   
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice   
You've made it now**

**Falling slowly, eyes that know me   
And I can't go back   
Moods that take me and erase me   
And I'm painted black**

She stopped singing again. Not just because it was marked that only the male sing, but she was still chuckling at Neji's severe off key-ness.

 **You have suffered enough   
And warred with yourself   
It's time that you won**

She began singing again until the end.

 **Take this sinking boat and point it home   
We've still got time   
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice   
You've made it now**

**Take this sinking boat and point it home   
We've still got time   
Raise your hopeful voice you had the choice   
You've made it now   
Falling slowly sing your melody   
I'll sing along**

It was beautiful. They both sat there in the silence of the room, waiting for the other to speak first and disturb the peace. Tenten was long over Neji kicking her out of their old band, as she was now one of the ringleaders of a new one, but she was channeling the anger that "Yume" was feeling at Neji for trying to use her as a platform for his music career. Now though, she only wanted to sing again. Neji decided to speak first. "You look different."

"Don't be stupid Neji. I look the same as I did a month ago."

"No, it's not that." There was a long pause then Neji said, "Have I ever seen you with your hair down?"

Tenten was silent for a minute. He was seeing the similarities between "Yume" and Tenten. "No, nobody has seen my hair down," lied Tenten.

Neji got up from the piano and stood next to her chair. "May I?" he asked.

If Tenten didn't let Neji take her hair down, he would become suspicious. If she did, he would know she had been lying to him the entire time. She made up her mind not to let him take it down when he reached for a bobby pin that was keeping her messy panda buns from becoming pigtails. Before she could stop him or he could find the key pin holding her hair up, Hinata came in. "Tenten, I just wanted to say it's getting late and we have that thing to do this week, so you might want to sleep."

Tenten knew she was talking about the auditions for the Ultimate Battle of the Bands, and Tenten was giving Hinata an, I-love-you-so-much-for-getting-me-out-of-this-situation look. Neji's expression was a mix of suspicion and anger at getting ripped off at seeing Tenten with her hair down. Hinata walked Tenten out of the mansion (it took five minutes to get to the ground floor) and when they got to Tenten's car, Tenten gave Hinata a bear hug. "Hinata, I love you! Thank you so much for interrupting at the right time and not letting Neji blow my cover!"

Hinata pulled herself out of the hug. "WHAT?"

"Yeah, he was about to take my hair down. I think I need to get a wig for when I perform, because that was way too close for comfort."

Hinata nodded. "I'll see what I can find. Get home and tell Temari to be careful as well."

Tenten started her car and drove off, feeling very much like a secret agent that had to keep her identity secret from her friends because, hey, she got to wear a wig.

* * *

Falling Slowly – By Glenn Hasard and Marketa Irglova - From the movie "Once"

Another finished chapter. I'm kind of sick and it's spring break, so I figured that I might as well update. Next time: Brawl of the Bands.


	6. Brawl of the Bands

Thanks for the response

Thanks for the response. Sorry to get to you all this late after my last chapter, but it's finally summer and I think my schedule will be much more forgiving. Code for, I will update faster and sooner than I would normally.

Disclaimer: I think it's obvious at this point that I don't own Naruto or any of the songs mentioned.

* * *

Tenten woke up Tuesday morning with a wonderful sense of being carefree, and then she remembered that her life had taken a complicated turn in the last month. Seeing that her alarm clock had woken her up an hour earlier than she was supposed to get up, she walked into her kitchen, cursing the makers of all technology in the world. Pouring her cereal, she got an idea. After she had gotten a spoon and poured the milk, she grabbed a stack of post it notes and wrote out the oddest to-do list she had ever seen.

_1. Get wig/pester Hinata about getting one (preferably red)._

_2. Throw Neji off my trail._

_3. Get more milk. Fat free._

_4. Play band auditions tomorrow._

She took a thumbtack and pinned it on her billboard next to pizza coupons and photos. She shuffled into her room and checked her phone: **1 received message**. She opened her phone to see that it was from Neji. **I want to talk. Can we have lunch?** Frowning, Tenten texted back, **Why?** While changing her shirt, she heard her phone vibrate. Pulling her shirt on, she opened it to see the message: **Because I've been a jerk**_._ The second after she read it, her phone vibrated like crazy and the caller ID said it was Neji. She let it ring twice before answering, "Hello?"

"Tenten?"

"Who else could it be?"

"Um, I just realized about three seconds after I sent that last text that I needed to explain myself by actually talking to you."

Tenten paused. "I'm listening."

He began to ramble. "Well, you see, ever since I asked you to leave the band, things have sucked. Lee and I rarely talk and the rest of the group that we hung out with – you know, Chouji, Shikamaru, Naruto, and the rest – they haven't been super friendly either. I've been pretty bored without you all and I guess I'm saying that I apologize."

Tenten chuckled. "Are you saying you want me to take you back?"

Neji sounded flustered for a minute and then he got the joke. "Yes Tenten, I want you take me back. You complete me," he said sarcastically.

"Don't push it," warned Tenten. "Where do you want me to meet you?"

"I was thinking we go out for lunch. What do you say?"

"Three words: Are you paying?"

Neji sighed. "Yes, I will."

Tenten clapped her hands together. "Then my answer is yes. I'll meet you at your car." They said their goodbyes and she hung up first. It was nowhere near where they were two months ago, but it was the first step.

* * *

She breezed through her first two classes (it's not that hard, considering one of them is a TA) and practically flew out to find Neji's car. It was easily the most distinguishable in the student parking lot, as it was a two year old, black, Mercedes Benz convertible. Tenten would always give him flack for having it too, saying things like, "Is this what you pick up your whores in?" She had to admit though, it was pretty nice. Especially when Neji let her drive it once. It was early in the morning and they hit the freeway. She pushed it to 120 miles per hour and Neji has refused to let her drive it since.

He came out two minutes later, carrying his violin. "How did you beat me out here? Did you teleport or something?"

Tenten snorted. "Of course. I'm a ninja so I can teleport whenever I want."

Neji rolled his eyes as he put his violin in the trunk and unlocked the doors. Tenten practically jumped into the passenger seat and reveled in the leather seats. "I think my fondest memory of this car is when I drove it."

Neji just gave her a look that said, 'really?' "The last time you drove this baby you almost killed us."

Tenten raised her hands in mock surrender. "In my defense, you gave me the go-ahead."

Neji just shook his head and started the engine. Tenten rummaged around in her bag for her iPod and plugged it into Neji's car jack. She started on her whole library of music and a random song started. Neji looked at the iPod screen and said, "What the heck is this?"

"I think it's German," shrugged Tenten. They continued in silence to where ever Neji was taking her. Five minutes later, they pulled up outside of McDonalds. Tenten just looked at Neji. "Really Neji? I thought you were way more of a romantic than this."

Neji looked sheepish and defensive as he said, "Well, I never thought I needed to impress you, so why start now?"

Tenten smiled as she unbuckled herself from the seat. Neither of them said anything and both walked inside.

After every show that she, Neji, and Lee did, they would always come to McDonalds. It's not that any of them particularly liked the food, Lee and Tenten just couldn't afford to eat at the same places that Neji could. Neji ordered a Big Mac while Tenten ordered a Quarter Pounder. They took their food outside and sat in Neji's car. Normally, he was OCD about keeping his leather seats clean, but he had always made exceptions for her and Lee.

They sat, eating their food in silence. Neji broke the silence and said, "So, what have you been up to?"

"Lof uf dufh," she chewed. Neji rolled his eyes and she swallowed hastily. "Lots of stuff," she clarified.

"Elaborate?"

Tenten took a long sip on her Sprite. "Well, mostly art stuff and trying to find a job. Other than that, dealing with some drama. How about you?"

"My uncle is the same as ever. He wants me to go into the banking business like himself, but I want to do something with music. Maybe play with a symphony, things like that."

There was another awkward silence. They noticed that the parking lot outside of McDonalds had become full. The current song ended and went into another odd one. "What the heck is this?" asked Neji, staring at Tenten's iPod screen. "What are they saying anyway?"

"It's German, I told you!" replied a mock-offended Tenten. "And they're talking about how before now, everything sucked, but now it's happy."

"You understand German?"

"No, that's what this German girl told me. She gave me this mix CD and summarized what all the songs were about."

"Why won't you let your hair down?"

The question was so sudden and unexpected, that Tenten did a double take. The silence was interrupted by a horn honking at them to get out of their spot. Neji waved them on. "Is that a metaphor for calling me a wet blanket?"

"No, I mean, the other day. When we sang together, you wouldn't let me take your hair down."

Tenten sighed. "Why do you care so much? You never did before, so why now?"

"This is going to sound ridiculous, but I've only seen you with your hair up, and I've only seen this other girl with her hair down. She wears make up and you don't, but I can't help but wonder sometimes if you are the same person."

"Who is the other girl?"

Neji paused. "Yume. The lead singer for The Ex-Girlfriends."

Tenten let out a nervous laugh. She had known where this was headed, but she was preparing a cover story. "Seriously? I hate The Ex-Girlfriends. They're sellouts. Also, she is a really bad singer. From the amount of time you spent listening to me sing, I hope you think I sound better than her."

Neji looked slightly taken aback, but pressed on and ignored Tenten's last statement. "I've racked my brain and I can't remember a time except for possibly when we were seven, but otherwise your hair has been up in some form or another."

"Why does it matter?" exclaimed Tenten. Neji had no answer. The car honked angrily again. Neji made no move to wave them; he only looked sheepishly at Tenten.

"I just...I have to know." With that, he shifted in the bucket seat and slowly moved to take down her twin buns. Just as he was about to take them down, the woman who had been honking her horn at Neji walked up to the window and shouted, "Move it buddy! I want your spot!" As a disappointed Neji put the car in reverse and drove back towards the school, Tenten thanked the gods of well-timed interruptions for her good fortune.

* * *

Tenten was so anxious about band auditions; she barely paid attention in any of her classes the next day. In all of her classes, she secretly made sure she knew all the lyrics to a new song they wrote (Temari came up with a song they liked better for auditions) and would sing them under her breath. She was quiet at her normally rambunctious lunch table, and Hinata was twiddling her thumbs again. Tenten avoided Neji at all possible costs after what happened the day before. The second the end-of-the-day bell rang, she bolted out to her car. Hinata showed up a second later and they booked it over to Tenten's apartment to quickly get ready for the auditions. Tenten threw on a purple tank top and some yellow skinny jeans that she bought with her last gig money. Hinata borrowed a pair of cutoffs and a worn t-shirt emblazoned with the word, "Smell?" They both put in colored contacts and did their own different things with their hair (Tenten straightened hers and Hinata put in extensions). They then hopped in the car and drove to Ichiraku's.

Temari had already registered them (number 21) and she was waiting backstage with lots of other bands. She had afro'd out her hair, put on oversized sunglasses, and wore a men's necktie over her tank top and frayed mini skirt. They waited with their instruments for almost a half hour until the house manager called, "Number 21, your audition is now." They got up and walked to the stage, attracting stares from other bands. "They're just star struck," whispered Temari. Tenten and Hinata giggled as Temari headed over to the drums and Tenten and Hinata quickly tuned their guitars.

"You're...The Ex-Girlfriends!" exclaimed the event coordinator in the middle of the room. "Great! What song will you play?"

Tenten spoke into the microphone. "It's an original called, 'Shut Up And Let Me Go.'"

The event girl signaled for them to begin, so they did. Temari banged on the drums, they all yelled, "Hey!" and Tenten began to sing.

**Shut up and let me go  
This hurts, I tell you so  
For the last time you will kiss my lips  
Now Shut up and let me go  
Your jeans were once so clean  
I bet you changed your wardrobe since we met**

**Now oh so easily your over me  
Gone is love  
It's you that ought to be holding me  
I'm not containable  
This turns up  
it's not sustainable**

**I ain't freakin'  
I ain't Fakin' this  
I ain't freakin'  
I ain't Fakin' this  
I ain't freakin'  
I ain't Fakin' this  
Shut up and let me go  
Hey!**

**Shut up and let me go  
This hurts, but I can't show  
for the last time you had me in bits  
Now Shut up and let me go!  
For fear of leaving in regret  
I changed this one when we first met**

**Now oh so easily your over me  
Gone is love  
It's me that ought to be moving on  
You're not adorable  
I was something unignorable.**

**I ain't freakin'  
I ain't Fakin' this  
I ain't freakin'  
I ain't Fakin' this  
I ain't freakin'  
I ain't Fakin' this  
Shut up and let me go  
Hey!**

**Oh love, hold this.  
Hey!**

**Hey!**

**Shut up and let me go  
This hurts, I told you so  
For the last time you will kiss my lips  
Now Shut up and let me go  
Hey!**

The event girl clapped feverishly. "You guys are one of the best bands that we have seen all day. You are so in!"

Temari pumped her fist while Tenten and Hinata high-fived each other. "Now," continued the event girl, "you guys probably know this already, but The Battle of The Bands is a week from Friday at 7:30, so you have plenty of time to write a new song. We also have a couple of managers looking for bands, so play your best!" She waved goodbye and told the House Manager to send in the next group.

Temari hugged them both and quickly drove home for dinner while Hinata directed Tenten to a wig store. Their stage hair was too similar to their "real life" hair, so Hinata decided to have a wig-shopping trip. Tenten parked outside of a store called **Hair!** and they went inside.

Two women who were working behind the counter came over to them to help them with choices and fitting. Hinata pulled her extensions out and one of the sales women helped her find a short blonde wig to cover Hinata's short blue hair. Tenten's saleswoman kept trying to get her to go with a black wig, but Tenten had her heart set on a red one. After what felt like an hour of walking around the small shop rather aimlessly, Tenten found a wig of long red hair with side swept bangs that were accented by a white headband tied just behind the bangs. Tenten got it fitted and Hinata bought them both enough wig pins to last a lifetime.

After dropping Hinata off at her house (Hinata had to shove her wig into her guitar case, which she had to smuggle into her room), Tenten tied her hair into a ponytail and picked up some take out. She also picked up some milk at a convenience store and wondered if this night would be one of the last calm ones that she would have for a very long time.

* * *

Shut Up And Let Me Go - The Ting Tings

Hope you enjoyed. This chapter felt like filler to me. Summer is great, minus the ill-timed vacations. Hope it's a good one for you all too!

Next Chapter: Into the Mosh Pit


	7. The Ultimate Showdown

Wow… long time no chapter. When I said I could regularly update, I lied. School is almost starting and I will write when my history teacher isn't drilling me about the Russian revolution. Also, I have repeat lyrics in this chapter, so I wont type them twice.

Disc: You know the drill; no way in hell does the Naruto series belong to me.

* * *

"I really don't see why I need all of these clothes," said an exasperated Tenten. It was a Saturday and she and Temari had decided to hit up a store with lots of colorful clothes. They were both dressed as Yume and Yuri so that they could see how their new clothes would go with their new looks. Temari, with her afro-hair, had donned a pair of white-framed oversized sunglasses with dark, black lenses and was wearing a garden party dress, which she accented with bright red pumps that tied up to her knee. Tenten was wearing her wig and had on a pair of blue canvas sneakers, corduroy shorts with a leather belt and a fitted plaid blouse. She also had on a pair of mirrored aviators. They were attracting a huge amount of attention from the teenage population they passed, and they had signed their fair share of autographs. They had been at the store for almost an hour and they each had about $300 worth of outfits.

"Tenten," sighed Temari, "if you wear your regular clothes to a show, people at school are bound to notice. But if you have a different wardrobe for shows, then it's less likely that someone will suspect you of being two different people."

Tenten seemed to consider the backless halter-top that Temari was holding for her. Because Tenten normally wore loose fitting shirts and men's jeans, they decided they would play up Tenten's skinny frame with more fitted shirts and pants. So far, all purchases were brightly colored as well.

"Alright…" said Tenten grudgingly. Temari threw it in the complimentary shopping bag and moved on to a large display of sunglasses. They were all about four or five dollars each, and Temari looked like she was in heaven. Tenten eyed the look on Temari's face. "Don't tell me you're considering buying all of them?"

Temari simply smiled. "Hey, Bono's signature is a pair of sunglasses. I think it's time he shared the love. I call the oversized ones."

Tenten sighed again. "Fine, but I call the aviators and the shields."

"Deal," said Temari. She immediately scoured and snatched all pairs of oversized glasses. A salesgirl a few racks over eyed them warily, wondering sadly if she would be the one to check out the two girls who were currently cleaning out all of the sunglasses.

"But in all seriousness," said Tenten, taking off a pair of rose-colored aviators, "I really don't think I need all of this stuff. Could we at least wait until after Wednesday to make any big purchases? I feel like we're counting our eggs before they hatch, here."

Temari rolled her eyes. "Fine, but I'm keeping this stuff. I've earned it." They preceded to checkout where they got a very exasperated look from the woman working behind the register. They waited to say anything to one another until they were in the safety of Tenten's car. "We still don't know what song we're playing," blurted Tenten, turning the key in the ignition.

"There's always that one that you wrote," sighed Temari.

"But I don't think it's good enough to get us to win! I mean, we kinda want to do a crowd pleaser, here, and we have only have a week to memorize it."

Temari rolled her eyes again. "Ok, there's one that I've been working on for a while, and tell me how it sounds." Temari pulled a piece of folded paper out of her pocked and read this:

**Ten years living in a paper bag  
Feedback baby, he's a flipped out cat  
He's a platinum canary, drinkin' Falstaff beer  
Mercedes rule, and a rented lear  
Bottom feeder insincere  
Prophet lo-fi pioneer  
Sell the house and go to school  
Get a young girlfriend, daddy's jewel **

**A change would do you good  
A change would do you good**

**Gods little gift is on the rag  
Poster girl posing in a fashion mag  
Canine, feline, Jekyll and Hyde  
Wear your fake fur on the inside  
Queen of south beach, aging blues  
Dinners at six, wear your cement shoes  
I thought you were singing your heart out to me  
Your lips were syncing and now I see**

**A change would do you good  
A change would do you good**

**Chasing dragons with plastic swords  
Jack off jimmy, everybody wants more  
Scully and angel on the kitchen floor  
And I'm calling buddy on the Ouija board  
I've been thinking bout catching a train  
Leave my phone machine by the radar range  
"****Hello it's me, I'm not at home  
If you'd like to reach me, leave me alone"**

**A change would do you good  
A change would do you good  
"****Hello, it's me, I'm not at home  
If you'd like to reach me, leave me alone!"  
A change would do you good  
A change would do you good**

Tenten nodded her head as she heard it. "I can almost hear it. It's really good." Just as Tenten turned a corner, she saw a teenage couple arguing in front of a store. Tenten frowned. The guy seemed to be shouting more than the girl was, and Tenten wondered for a moment why so many girls were attracted to guys that were so obviously assholes. Then she was struck by inspiration. "Holy shit… Temari! I've got it! A great idea for a song!"

"That's good. Ideas are nice, but we need an actual song before we can play it."

"I know," said Tenten disappointedly. She resolved herself to writing it down when she got home later. Before they knew it, they were in front of Temari's house. "Call Hinata and tell her that we need to rehearse your song tomorrow," said Tenten as Temari got out of the car.

"You got it, Yume," said Temari, winking. "Love you, bitch!"

"Love you too!" shouted Tenten as she put the car in drive and headed back to her apartment, humming a tune to her song all the way.

--Friday Morning--

Tenten was fidgeting through all her classes. She couldn't take the anxiety and actually threw up in the bathroom during lunch. She saw Hinata in Kurenai's art class and Hinata looked as if she was about to faint. The previous day, Tenten had told both Temari and Hinata the chord changes in her song and that they would only play it in the event of an encore. Both agreed.

She and Neji had been hanging out more often now, but Tenten was still worried that he would catch her off-guard and try to break her hair ties. She wouldn't put it past him.

Surely enough, Tenten found herself at the end of the school day and she rushed back to her apartment to put on an outfit that Neji would never recognize her in. After an hour of prepping herself, Tenten stepped back from the mirror and was shocked. She didn't even recognize herself. The contacts were in and the red-haired wig was brushed and pinned firmly (if painfully) in place. It wasn't the wig though, it was the clothes. She wore a white leather mini-skirt and a blue strapless with one thigh-high stocking on her right leg. She also put on enough eyeliner to shame a raccoon. All in all, Tenten thought it was a pretty good disguise.

She packed up and picked up Hinata (who told her she looked like a baby prostitute) and then drove to Ichiraku's where Temari was waiting for them. "Tenten, you look like you should be tempting sailors down by the waterfront."

"Hinata said something similar. How are things?"

"They're OK. We're the second to last band to play."

"Good. They still setting up?"

"Yup. They're gonna start letting people in at seven. Also, they said there would be a free round of drinks for all the bands."

"Excellent!" said Tenten, smiling. "Do you drink, Hinata?"

Hinata shrugged. "Only on holidays. My dad will break out the champagne and give me some."

Tenten nodded. "What we're gonna have tonight is something very different from champagne - " she stopped talking because Neji showed up. And even more surprising, behind him was Kiba, Naruto, and Shikamaru. Tenten froze, and she was sure Hinata felt the same way. "Hello ladies, Yume," said Neji, nodding politely at Tenten. "I see you changed your hair. It's very flattering."

"Thank you," said Tenten in a slightly deeper voice than she normally spoke with. "This is actually my original color."

"May I introduce you to my new band?" he gestured at the familiar men behind him. "Naruto is our drummer, Kiba is our singer, and Shikamaru is our base player."

Tenten nodded. "Nice to meet you. What do you call yourselves?"

"We're 'The Ordinary Average Guys,'" piped Naruto, smiling wickedly.

"And I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting," said Neji, turning on Hinata, who visibly paled, even under the makeup.

"I-I'm Kaminari. I'm the bassist," she managed.

Neji gave her a devilish grin, and a part of Tenten was laughing at the fact that Neji was hitting on his cousin. That same part was also repelled that Neji was hitting on his cousin. "Pleasure seeing you again, Yume." He turned as if to move on, but he stopped and stared at Tenten. "By the way, you look like a hooker."

Tenten smiled. "At least I don't look like an asshole."

Neji glared and moved on. Once they were safely out of reach, Temari turned to Tenten. "Why are you still mad at him? You told me that you were getting along great!"

Tenten shook her head. "Neji and Tenten are getting along just fine, but Yume is still steamed about the incident on the date. So Yume is mad at Neji, and Tenten is one of his best friends."

Temari looked at her funny. "And Temari is wondering why we're all talking in third person, but she gets the point."

Tenten laughed and excused herself to go to the bathroom as the show started. She was just about to enter when she hear a voice behind her.

"That's a pretty good disguise. It almost fooled me."

She turned slowly on her feet, only to come face to face with Shikamaru.

She knew she was in deep shit now. "I'm sorry," she said, putting on the same voice as before. "You must have mistaken me for someone else."

"Cut the crap, Tenten. You may be dressed like a call girl, but I know it's you." Tenten looked around and pulled him into the nearest janitor's closet she could find. "How do you know?" she asked, once they were in the confined space.

"Your face structure is the same, and you were slumping over the same way. I also knew during your guys' second show. By the way, tell Temari to get a better disguise."

Tenten smacked her head. "Did you tell anyone else?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "No. It's not my place to tell. I'm just the secret keeper."

Tenten threw herself onto Shikamaru with so much force that they knocked down a shelf of cleaning fluid. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou! Have I told you that you're a great friend?"

"Not really, but I'm guessing that I'll hear it for a while. Just curious, who's your base player? I haven't figured her out yet."

Tenten sighed. "Well, you already know who I am, so here goes: it's Hinata."

Shikamaru's mouth dropped. "No shit! Eww, Neji was hitting on her…"

"I know! I kinda want to tell him that he just came on to his first cousin."

They chatted for a brief while before Tenten ran back to her band, all thoughts of the bathroom now out of her head.

"Shikamaru knows," she said, breathing heavily from her short jog.

"He knows what?" exclaimed Hinata and Temari at the same time.

"He knows who we are. Don't worry, he promised not to tell anybody." Temari still looked skeptical.

"It's Ok," reassured Hinata. "Shikamaru is one of the most trustworthy people that I know. We're safe."

Temari nodded, and instead took to listening to bands from the wings of the stage. They waited their turn (Neji's band was last, after them). When the announcer called "Band number 21: The Ex-Girlfriends!" the crowd cheered and the girls ran on stage. They plugged in and set up in less than five minutes and Tenten approached the mic. "How's everybody doing tonight?" she called.

The audience cheered back. Tenten laughed and cued them into the song that Temari had written. When they were done, the crowd cheered and clapped as they ran off stage, high-fiving each other. Neji and his band walked out, and Shikamaru winked at Tenten as they started playing and Kiba started singing.

**I'm standing at your back porch baby  
Come answer your door  
I'll give you what you want little lady  
Can't take any more**

**Hey!  
If it's love that you want from me  
No way!  
I'm just a boy with a melody  
There's no way I'll stay here all night...  
No way!  
I'm creeping through your hallway darling  
Coming to make you sweat  
I'll make it to your bedroom, honey  
I can make you wet**

**Hey!  
If it's love that you want from me  
No way!  
I'm just a boy with a melody  
And I'd love to stay here but I gotta be on my way**

**I'm on my way  
I'm on my way**

**I'm knocking at your back porch baby  
Come answer the door  
I'm giving you what you want little lady  
Can't take any more**

**Hey!  
If it's love that you want from me  
No way!  
I'm just a boy with a melody  
And I'd love to stay but I gotta be on my way, yeah**

**Hey!  
If it's love that you want from me  
No way!  
I'm just a boy with a melody  
There's no way I'll stay here all, all night**

**I'm on my way  
I'm on my way  
I'm on my way**

Tenten clapped when they were done. It was a surprisingly good song, and she was impressed.

"We're going to take a short break," said the announcer. "to decide the winner of the Battle of The Bands!"

The crowd cheered and then the noise level rose as people chatted about who their favorite bands were. Tenten, Temari, and Hinata all joined in a group hug and wished each other luck. Tenten saw out of the corner of her eye that Neji's group was doing something similar. The minutes seemed to pass like hours, and the anxiety increased with every second. Then, the club owner appeared on stage with a large novelty check. "We have reached a decision," he boomed into the microphone. "Will 'The Ex-Girlfriends' and 'Ordinary Average Guys' please come on stage?"

The crowd cheered as the rival bands walked onto the stage, taking up places on either side of the club owner. "It was a close decision," he said, "but our winner tonight is 'The Ex-Girlfriends.' Congratulations on a great effort by both groups." Neji's band walked offstage while the club owner presented the large check (worth $25,000) to Temari. "But that's not the only prize they win!" he boomed. "They also get a recording contract with a very special person. Will that person please come on stage?"

Tenten was flabbergasted. The "special person" was none other than her guitar idol, Tsunade herself.

The audience erupted in cheers. The club owner even clapped as Tsunade confidently approached the microphone. "Tsunade got her start at this very club, and I hope she will pass on the gift of musical fame to these fine young ladies." The crowd clapped again and some began to chant, "Encore! Encore! Encore!" Eventually, the band gave in, and Tsunade and the club owner left the stage so that the girls could play Tenten's quickly rehearsed song.

**It's a complicated mixed up angry world  
Everybody's tryin to get what they can  
He needs a simple pretty sweetheart of a girl  
So he can help her un-understand  
So he can help her un-understand**

**Baby mess me up and honey bring me down  
Wanna fall on through to the underground  
Just do what you got and I'll - I'm gonna do what I can  
Cause every nice young girl needs an angry young man  
(Needs an angry young...)  
Needs an angry young man**

**It's a shit box, sky box, sex box kinda world  
Lucky if you float wade and stream  
He wants a rainbow unicorn pink muffin girl (ah ah ah)  
So he can help destroy her every dream  
So he can help destroy her every dream**

**Baby mess me up and honey bring me down  
Wanna fall on through to the underground (la la la la la la la la)  
Just do what you got and I'll - I'm gonna do what I can  
Cause every nice young girl needs an angry young mannnn  
Needs an angry young mannnn  
(Needs an angry young...)  
Ah ah ah**

**Baby mess me up and honey bring me down  
Wanna fall on through to the underground (la la la la la la la la)  
Just do what you got and I'll - I'm gonna do what I can  
Cause every nice young girl needs an angry young MAN!  
Needs an angry young MAN!  
Needs an angry young MAN!  
Needs an angry young MAN!**

The audience cheered, clapped, and whistled as the girls left the stage for the night. They met Tsunade in the wings. "I really do mean this girls, I'm really looking forward to working with you. Here's my card. Drop by my office next Wednesday and we'll get the ball rolling." She walked away and Tenten pocketed the card. Then the bartender came backstage and began passing out free beer to all the bands that stayed. Tenten, Temari, and Hinata toasted (Hinata choked hers down) their success, and laughed the rest of the night. Hinata was again sleeping over at Tenten's, and it was around One AM when they pulled into Tenten's apartment complex. Hinata turned to Tenten with a big smile on her face and said:

"Best night ever."

* * *

"A Change Would Do You Good" by Sheryl Crow  
"On My Way" by Billy Boy on Poison  
"Angry Young Man" by Billy Boy on Poison

Wow. Almost nine pages in MS word. Alright, you know what to do. Click the button. You know you wanna.


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